[#BloombergLP-bdlma-CountingAllocator-allocate-0c]
= xref:BloombergLP.adoc[BloombergLP]::xref:BloombergLP/bdlma.adoc[bdlma]::xref:BloombergLP/bdlma/CountingAllocator.adoc[CountingAllocator]::allocate
:relfileprefix: ../../../
:mrdocs:

Return a newly‐allocated block of memory of the specified `size`.

== Synopsis

Declared in `<bdlma_countingallocator.h>`

[source,cpp,subs="verbatim,replacements,macros,-callouts"]
----
virtual
void*
allocate(xref:BloombergLP/bsls/Types/size_type.adoc[bsls::Types::size_type] size) override;
----

== Description

Return a newly‐allocated block of memory of the specified `size` (in bytes). If `size` is 0, a null pointer is returned with no other effect (e.g., on allocation statistics). Otherwise, invoke the `allocate` method of the allocator supplied at construction, and increment the number of currently (and cumulatively) allocated bytes by `size`.

== Return Value

address of the newly allocated block, or a null pointer if `size` is 0

== Parameters

[cols="1,4"]
|===
| Name| Description
| *size*
| number of bytes to allocate
|===


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