OS X and iOS Kernel Programming

Memory Allocation

The XNU kernel provides a rich set of tools for allocating memory. Kernel memory allocation is not as trivial and straightforward as the malloc() / free() interface found in user space libraries. Kernel memory allocation facilities range from high-level mechanisms analogous to the user space malloc() interface to direct allocation of raw pages. There are dozens of various functions for obtaining memory. Which one to use depends on the subsystem you are working within—for example, Mach, BSD, or the I/O Kit—as well as the requirements for the memory, such as size or alignment. Memory is arguably one of the most limited resources on a computer system, especially for the iOS platform, which has limited amounts of physical memory ...