Monday, March 23, 2009

System.OutOfMemoryException Part 4

And then there were 2. I'm talking about code paths that lead to an OutOfMemoryException being thrown by the CLR.

#1 is the standard "You've run out of contiguous virtual memory, sonny boy!", which is pretty easy to do in a 32-bit process. With the advent of 64-bit operating systems, you get a little more headroom. Actually, a lot more headroom: precicely 2^32 times as much as you had to start with! But, due to limitations built into the CLR, you're no further from an OutOfMemoryException...

#2 is when you try and allocate more than 2GiB in a single object. In the following example, it's the +1 that pushes you over the edge:
new System.Byte[System.Int32.MaxValue + 1];
If you're using a different ValueType your mileage may vary:
new System.Int32[(Ssytem.Int32.MaxValue / sizeof(System.Int32.MaxValue)) + 1];
Or if you're on a 64-bit system:
new System.IntPtr[(System.Int32.MaxValue / sizeof(System.Int64)) + 1];

Many thanks to this blog for helping me in the right direction here.

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