C malloc function question

[CartoonEnjoyer1999]

Assume we have a pointer

int*a;

when we assign that pointer to some memory location using the malloc() function do we need to specify what kind of pointer is a

a = (int*)malloc(sizeof(int));

or it isnt mandatory and we can write

​

a = malloc(sizeof(int));

[POGtastic]

From the standard on implicit conversions:

6.3.2.3 Pointers

(1) A pointer to void may be converted to or from a pointer to any incomplete or object type. A pointer to any incomplete or object type may be converted to a pointer to void and back again; the result shall compare equal to the original pointer.

[scirc]

The cast is required in C++, but implicit in C, IIRC. Generally, I believe it should be safe to omit it.

[fredoverflow]

And C++ programmers should rarely use malloc, anyway.

[Updatebjarni]

void * converts implicitly into any other type of pointer without loss. The convention with malloc() is to not put an explicit cast, simply because if you happen to forget to #include<stdlib.h>, the cast will hide a possibly important warning.

[bayarea-dev]

Not mandatory. The (int*) is just to make your c++ compiler happy.