[#BloombergLP-ball-CountingAllocator-allocate-09]
= xref:BloombergLP.adoc[BloombergLP]::xref:BloombergLP/ball.adoc[ball]::xref:BloombergLP/ball/CountingAllocator.adoc[CountingAllocator]::allocate
:relfileprefix: ../../../
:mrdocs:

Allocate a maximally aligned block of the specified `size`.

== Synopsis

Declared in `<ball_countingallocator.h>`

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

== Description

Return a newly allocated block of memory of (at least) the specified positive `size` (bytes) and increment the byte count maintained by this counting allocator by the sum of the least multiple of `bsls::AlignmentUtil::BSLS_MAX_ALIGNMENT` that is greater than or equal to `size` and `bsls::AlignmentUtil::BSLS_MAX_ALIGNMENT`. The behavior is undefined unless `0 <= size`. Note that the alignment of the address returned is the maximum alignment for any fundamental type defined for the calling platform, even if the supplied allocator guarantees only natural alignment.


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