C Dynamic Structures and Members

Question

Currently i am dynamically allocating memory for a structure, after which i am dynamically allocating memory for one of its members. My question is should i free the member too, or only the structure and why?

#include <stdlib.h>

struct test{
  char *test_member;
};

int main(){

  struct test *new_test;

  // Allocating memory for structure and its member
  new_test = (test*)malloc(sizeof(test));
  new_test->test_member = (char*)malloc(80);

  // Freeing struct member and struct
  free(new_test->test_member);
  free(new_test);

  return 0;
}

Does it mean, that i won't have any double freeing issue? Thank You — Sam______, Oct 10 '20 at 12:24
PS: [Do not cast the return value of malloc](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/605845/do-i-cast-the-result-of-malloc) — Marco Bonelli, Oct 10 '20 at 12:32

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 10 '20 at 12:27

Since variables in the structure are allocated, you need to free them first, and free the structure.

It is same as dynamic allocate of 2D array A. when you wanna free 'A' you need to free A[i] first and then free A to prevent memory leak..

So your code is correct

C Dynamic Structures and Members

1 Answers1