Implementing Malloc
Brian P. Railing, Randal E. Bryant · 2018
This work describes our experience in revising one of the major programming assignments for the second-year course Introduction to Computer Systems, in which students implement a version of the malloc memory allocator. The revisions involved fully supporting a 64-bit address space, promoting a more modern programming style, and creating a set of benchmarks and grading standards that provide an appropriate level of challenge. With this revised assignment, students were able to implement more sophisticated allocators than they had in the past, and they also achieved higher performance on the related questions on the final exam.