C dynamically growing array

Question

I have a program that reads a "raw" list of in-game entities, and I intend to make an array holding an index number (int) of an indeterminate number of entities, for processing various things. I would like to avoid using too much memory or CPU for keeping such indexes...

A quick and dirty solution I use so far is to declare, in the main processing function (local focus) the array with a size of the maximum game entities, and another integer to keep track of how many have been added to the list. This isn't satisfactory, as every list holds 3000+ arrays, which isn't that much, but feels like a waste, since I'll possible use the solution for 6-7 lists for varying functions.

I haven't found any C (not C++ or C#) specific solutions to achieve this. I can use pointers, but I am a bit afraid of using them (unless it's the only possible way).

The arrays do not leave the local function scope (they are to be passed to a function, then discarded), in case that changes things.

If pointers are the only solution, how can I keep track of them to avoid leaks?

Answer 1

To create an array of unlimited items of any sort of type:

typedef struct STRUCT_SS_VECTOR {
    size_t size;
    void** items;
} ss_vector;


ss_vector* ss_init_vector(size_t item_size) {
    ss_vector* vector;
    vector = malloc(sizeof(ss_vector));
    vector->size = 0;
    vector->items = calloc(0, item_size);

    return vector;
}

void ss_vector_append(ss_vector* vec, void* item) {
    vec->size++;
    vec->items = realloc(vec->items, vec->size * sizeof(item));
    vec->items[vec->size - 1] = item;
};

void ss_vector_free(ss_vector* vec) {
    for (int i = 0; i < vec->size; i++)
        free(vec->items[i]);

    free(vec->items);
    free(vec);
}

and how to use it:

// defining some sort of struct, can be anything really
typedef struct APPLE_STRUCT {
    int id;
} apple;

apple* init_apple(int id) {
    apple* a;
    a = malloc(sizeof(apple));
    a-> id = id;
    return a;
};


int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
    ss_vector* vector = ss_init_vector(sizeof(apple));

    // inserting some items
    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
        ss_vector_append(vector, init_apple(i));


    // dont forget to free it
    ss_vector_free(vector);

    return 0;
}

This vector/array can hold any type of item and it is completely dynamic in size.