42-valgrind-starter-pack

The simplest setup for checking memory leaks with Valgrind on C/C++ projects at 42

Getting Started (only do it once)

Clone the repository and run the setup script:

If you're normally using zsh:

git clone https://github.com/mc-localhost/42-valgrind-starter-pack
cd 42-valgrind-starter-pack
zsh setup.sh

If you're using bash:

git clone https://github.com/mc-localhost/42-valgrind-starter-pack
cd 42-valgrind-starter-pack
bash setup.sh

How to Use

1. Launch Docker Desktop app (tick Open Docker Dashboard at startup in Docker Desktop settings to launch it automatically on computer startup).

2. Go to your C/C++ project folder. Or don't. You can do it from Docker shell later as well.

3. In terminal:

valgrind-docker # opens Docker shell
make re # re-compiles your project for Linux (if you have a Makefile, obviously)
valgrind --leak-check=full --show-leak-kinds=all --track-origins=yes ./your_executable # checks for leaks
exit # exits Docker shell

Always run make re to re-compile your project inside Docker, especially if you previously compiled on macOS. This ensures compatibility with the Linux environment.

Project-Specific Tips

In philosophers project you might wanna do:

valgrind --tool=helgrind ./your_executable

In minishell you might want to play with something like --track-fds=yes.

In graphical projects (so_long, miniRT, etc.) you should use something else, as this is a headless environment that cannot display your beautiful 2D/3D stuff. In that case and for the exams, consider these alternatives:

system leaks

#include <stdlib.h>

void	leaks(void)
{
	system("leaks your_executable");

}
int main(void)
{
    atexit(leaks);
    // your code here
    return (0);
}

address sanitizer:

gcc -fsanitize=address -g your_file.c -o your_executable
./your_executable

Advantages Compared to Dorker or 200 Lines of Bash Script Solutions:

• Usable from any directory — no need to copy project files or cd to some specific folder
• You choose which valgrind flags to use since you're basically running the command on your own
• Understandable Dockerfile and installation script — you can build up based on these on your own

If you miss some package, change Dockerfile and run setup.sh again or just do apt-get inside your Docker shell (but know that it won't be saved once you exit)

If Your Docker Desktop Doesn't Want to Start

(Warning! This is a full reset and it will delete all images you have)

rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.helper
rm -rf ~/.docker
mkdir -p ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/
chmod -R 755 ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker
open -a Docker