C Stack Linked List Simulator & Memory Inspector

1. Stack Allocation Operations malloc() & free()

Active C Code Generation

node *new_node = (node*) malloc(sizeof(node));
new_node->data = 100;
new_node->next = top;
top = new_node;

Heap Memory Telemetry

Allocated Nodes

Heap Footprint

32 bytes

Active Stack Top

0x7ffd5b8

Memory Leaks

0 blocks

Durable Export & Diagnostics

[SYS] C runtime initialized. Heap pool ready at 0x7ffd000. [SYS] Initial stack state hydrated: node_1(42) at 0x7ffd5a1, node_2(100) at 0x7ffd5b8.

Simulated Heap Memory Layout (Splattered Allocation)

Nodes allocated dynamically via malloc(); top of stack references newest link.

top → 0x7ffd5b8

LIFO Stack Ready: node_2(100) is at top pointing to node_1(42). Ready to push 256.

Why Linked-List Stack instead of Contiguous Array?

In standard C, an array stack requires fixed pre-allocation or contiguous realloc() calls that can fail when memory fragmentation occurs. A linked-list stack allocates arbitrary 16-byte chunks (8-byte pointer + 4-byte payload + padding) scattered at non-contiguous hexadecimal heap addresses, linked strictly through next pointers. Push and Pop are strictly O(1) operations requiring zero memory shifting.

Trace the saved watermark counting rules and fixture limits

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Read the explanation

The saved linked stack starts with payload one hundred at the top, pointing to forty-two then NULL. Push prepends the new node and points it to the former top. An illustrative initial two nodes become three after push, both shown at one hundred seventy pixels per node. Pop removes the newest node first. This page models pointer records in JavaScript rather than executing C malloc or free. The source displays an assigned sixteen-byte footprint per node: four bytes for an int, eight for its pointer, plus four alignment bytes. Two nodes therefore display thirty-two bytes and three display forty-eight. Both bars show assigned bytes at ten pixels per byte. These are the simulator layout assumptions, not a portable guarantee of C structure size or evidence of actual allocated memory. Its special default push of payload two hundred fifty-six assigns address zero x seven f f d five c four without advancing the counter. Ordinary pushes instead use the counter and then advance it by hexadecimal fourteen, which is twenty decimal offset units. Both bars show assigned counter increments at twenty-five pixels per unit: zero for the fixture and twenty for the ordinary branch. A subsequent ordinary push can therefore reuse that displayed address. Preserve this source limitation; the illustration does not prove correct heap allocation or absence of leaks.