I'm trying to use calloc in my program. With an explicit cast it compiles and runs fine, but when I try to remove the explicit cast of malloc I see the following error:
Assigning to '... *' (aka '....... *') from incompatible type 'void *'
How can I compile my code without an explicit cast of calloc in Xcode?
You are attempting to compile your C code as C++.
While it is true that some C code is also valid in C++, you have come across an example of C code that isn't valid in C++.
That is, C++ does not offer the implicit conversions to/from void * that C does.
You should always compile your C code using a C compiler, for the following three reasons:
The only reason people try to compile C code with a C++ compiler is that they anticipate using their C code in a C++ project. However, this is unnecessary because you can usually compile your C code using a C compiler, compile your C++ code using a C++ compiler and then link the two together. For example:
gcc -c c_code.c
g++ -c cpp_code.cpp
gcc cpp_library.o c_library.o
In C++, it is generally a bad idea to use *alloc functions. Those who program specifically in C++ will usually cringe at *alloc use.
In C, it is always a bad idea to explicitly cast void *, as the link you provided explains. Those who program specifically in C will cringe at unnecessary boilerplate that potentially introduces bugs.