Re: Combinations of pg_strdup/free in pg_dump code

Michael Paquier <michael(dot)paquier(at)gmail(dot)com> writes:
> While reading some code of pg_dump, I noticed that the following
> pattern is heavily present:
> lanname = pg_strdup(stuff)
> free(lanname);

> When pg_strdup or any pg-related allocation routines are called, I
> think that we should use pg_free() and not free(). It does not matter
> much in practice because pg_free() calls actually free() and the
> latter per the POSIX spec should do nothing if the input pointer is
> NULL (some version of SunOS that crash on that actually :p), but we
> really had better be consistent in the calls done. Thoughts?

I do not think this is worth troubling over, really. If there are
places that are relying on free(NULL) to work, it might be worth
ensuring they go through pg_free; but the pattern you show here
is perfectly safe. We have other things to do besides create
code churn for this.

regards, tom lane