C programmers will undoubtedly recognize the standard function malloc(), the language's memory allocator and close confident of everyone's favorite segfaults. malloc() is the mechanism through which programs obtain memory at runtime, and it often ends up being the primary way in which objects are created and managed. Considering this central status, I'm surprised that most programmers treat it as a black box. This post is a bit of an excuse to tell you more about what happens under-the-hood and ...