Re: [PATCH] builtin-update-index.c (add_file_to_cache): Don't leak a cache entry.

Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> wrote:
> On Fri, 16 Feb 2007, Jim Meyering wrote:
>>
>> -	if (index_path(ce->sha1, path, &st, !info_only))
>> +	if (index_path(ce->sha1, path, &st, !info_only)) {
>> +		free(ce);
>>  		return -1;
>> +	}
>
> Well, the only user of this does:
>
> 	if (add_file_to_cache(p))
> 		die("Unable to process file %s", path);
>
> so the leak is very shortlived ;)

True... for now, and probably for ever after, but what if?  However,
the goal in plugging a leak like this is not to avoid wasting memory,
but rather to avoid spending time investigating it, again and again.
It's analogous to making your code compile warning-free.  When a new
warning/leak pops up, it's easy to spot (in case it really does matter),
not obscured by lots of older ones.

There are other ways to mark a leak as ignorable, but this method works
across all leak-detecting tools.

If you'd prefer to avoid the cost of a technically-unnecessary free,
give it a different name, so it can be a no-op most of the time, and
"free" only when compiled in leak-checking mode.
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