🚀 go-pugleaf

Just when I think I'm beginning to get a glimmer of understanding concerning the
C language, I realize I know nothing at all:

I'm trying to port some NCSA HDF software to the Amiga. One header file
defines:
char *malloc();

When I try to use that header file as well as stdlib.h from SAS/C 5.10,
I get an external item mismatch error.

So I look in stdlib.h. There I see:
extern void *malloc __ARGS((unsigned));

What's going on? What is this trying to tell me that malloc returns? It has to
return a pointer to a memory location, right? I must be missing something.
Perhaps this declaration aligns the memory so you can cast the pointer to any
pointer type? Still, the manual says it returns a char *.

SAS tech support says
that whatever's in the include file is correct and the manual is most likely
wrong.

Totally lost,
Richard Gerber
gerber@rigel.astro.uiuc.edu