allocator::allocate

pointer allocate(size_type n, const void *hint);

The member function allocates storage for an array of n elements of type T, by calling operator new(n). It returns a pointer to the allocated object. The hint argument helps some allocators in improving locality of reference -- a valid choice is the address of an object earlier allocated by the same allocator object, and not yet deallocated. To supply no hint, use a null pointer argument instead.

In this implementation, if a translator does not support member template functions, the template:

template<class U>
    pointer allocate(size_type n, const U *hint);

is replaced by:

pointer allocate(size_type n, const void *hint);