c - Cannot understand return value of sizeof()

Question

I have this in my code:

int x = 4;
char* array = malloc(x*sizeof(char));
size_t arraysize = sizeof (array);
printf("arraysize: %zu
", arraysize);

This code prints out,

arraysize: 8

Why is it 8 and not 4? (Since 4*sizeof(char) = 4 * 1)

Answer 1

array is a pointer in your code. sizeof(array) therefore returns the size of that pointer in C bytes (reminder: C's bytes can have more than 8 bits in them).

So, 8 is your pointer size.

Also, the correct type specifier for size_t in printf()'s format strings is %zu.