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##### 3.2.5.3 Disadvantages of `alloca`

These are the disadvantages of `alloca` in comparison with `malloc`:

- If you try to allocate more memory than the machine can provide, you don't get a clean error message. Instead you get a fatal signal like the one you would get from an infinite recursion; probably a segmentation violation (see Program Error Signals).
- Some non-GNU systems fail to support `alloca`, so it is less portable. However, a slower emulation of `alloca` written in C is available for use on systems with this deficiency.