"There are other functions that can be used to allocate memory in C. For example, calloc() is similar to malloc() but initializes the contents to zero (null bytes). realloc() can be used to resize an existing memory space (though it may fail if it cannot be expanded).\n\nPerforming an explicit pointer cast is actually not necessary in C as the type system will do an implicit cast for us. Whether explicit or implicit types casts are “better” can evoke debates akin to nerd holy wars. Though there are advantages and disadvantages to both [15], we perform explicit pointer casts in this book as clarity and intent is more important than brevity. Even more important is that explicit pointer casts are necessary in C++ so doing so in our C code makes our code more portable."