Question

What is the use of mmap() in code coverage (Linux)? Please explain

Answer 1

• In computing, mmap() is a POSIX-compliant Unix system call that maps files or devices into memory. It is a method of memory-mapped file I/O. It implements demand paging, because file contents are not read from disk directly and initially do not use physical RAM at all. The actual reads from disk are performed in a "lazy" manner, after a specific location is accessed. After the memory is no longer needed, it is important to munmap() the pointers to it. Protection information can be managed using mprotect(), and special treatment can be enforced using madvise().

• The mmap() function asks to map length bytes starting at offset offset from the file (or other object) specified by the file descriptor fd into memory, preferably at address start. This latter address is a hint only, and is usually specified as 0. The actual place where the object is mapped is returned by mmap().