note tlm <b>Update:</b>Actually the problems with the code below, I just discovered, are far more serious than a mere memory leak. It blows up if I try to accesses the elements in the table... I guess it's time for me to call it a day! <strike> <p>OK, I'm replying to myself here...</p> <p>After I posted the original query, I tried a different tack. I streamlined the C function make_aoa_c, as follows: <code> SV *make_aoa_c( int n_rows, int n_cols ) { int i, j; char *foo = "foo"; AV *table = newAV(); AV *row; for ( i = 0; i < n_rows; ++i ) { row = ( AV * ) sv_2mortal( ( SV * ) newAV() ); for ( j = 0; j < n_cols; ++j ) { av_push( row, newSVpv( foo, 0 ) ); } av_push( table, sv_2mortal( newRV( ( SV * ) row ) ) ); } return newRV( ( SV * ) table ); } </code> This took care of the size problem for the most part, and greatly improved the speed (though it's still slower than Perl).</p> <p>Unfortunately, the code has sprung a small memory leak that I can't identify! Changing the number of repetitions to 10, now the output for the C case looks like this: <code> % perl test_aoa.pl 1 1: 78844 (280041 us) 2: 78884 (247865 us) 3: 78892 (237725 us) 4: 78900 (245755 us) 5: 78908 (235251 us) 6: 78916 (235712 us) 7: 78924 (246926 us) 8: 78932 (237128 us) 9: 78940 (237369 us) 10: 78948 (238528 us) </code> With every iteration, the memory grows by at least 8kb.</p> <p>I have tried adding sv_2mortal around various items in the code (e.g. <c>AV *table=(AV *)sv_2mortal((SV *)newAV())</c>), but I get errors like: <code> Attempt to free unreferenced scalar: SV 0x5b2c620, Perl interpreter: 0x603010 at test_aoa.pl line 22. </code> If anyone can spot the memory leak here, I'd much appreciate it!</p> </strike> <div class="pmsig"><div class="pmsig-439528"> <p><small>the lowliest monk</small></p> </div></div> 751041 751041