When malloc returns, what does 8-byte alignment mean?
c, malloc, memory-management
Solution
It means that the pointed address mod 8 is 0:
pointer % 8 == 0
This can be important for low level operations where it may impact correctness or efficiency. See also this answer.
Problem
In libc's malloc(x), the function is said to return a pointer to a memory region of at least x bytes and the pointer is aligned to 8 bytes. What does this alignment mean? THank you.