cunixsbrkbrk

What do brk and sbrk stand for?

While I know what the Unix system call brk and function sbrk do, I have no idea what they stand for. Can anyone enlighten me?

Solution

  • It comes from "break value".

    I quote: "The change is made by resetting the process's break value and allocating the appropriate amount of space. The break value is the address of the first location beyond the end of the data segment."

    (source: http://www.s-gms.ms.edus.si/cgi-bin/man-cgi?brk+2)