### Question 7.7

Why does some code carefully cast the values returned by `malloc` to the pointer type being allocated?

Before ANSI/ISO Standard C introduced the `void *` generic pointer type, these casts were typically required to silence warnings (and perhaps induce conversions) when assigning between incompatible pointer types. (Under ANSI/ISO Standard C, these casts are no longer necessary.)

References: H&S Sec. 16.1 pp. 386-7

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