note fokat <P>Thanks a lot for the reference, [derby] (and ++ for your nitpicking). I have a small difference, though...</P> <P> Actually, <tt>mmap()</tt> does not allocate memory. What it does is map pages belonging to a file, probably from the buffer cache, into your process' private address space. Certainly it is a neat trick, but might have undesired side effects when competing with file-related resources in the same machine, specially with a static buffer cache.</P> <P>They will "return" the memory to the OS because the memory was not originally allocated to your process. I am glad to see certain implementations of <tt>malloc()</tt> and <tt>free()</tt> taking advantage of this.</P> <P>Best regards</P> <P>-<A HREF="http://mipagina.cantv.net/lem/">lem</A>, but some call me fokat 243025 243106