The default memory allocator provided by the operating system.

This is based on malloc on Unix platforms and HeapAlloc on Windows, plus related functions. However, it is not valid to mix use of the backing system allocator with System, as this implementation may include extra work, such as to serve alignment requests greater than the alignment provided directly by the backing system allocator.

This type implements the GlobalAlloc trait. Currently the default global allocator is unspecified. Libraries, however, like cdylibs and staticlibs are guaranteed to use the System by default and as such work as if they had this definition:

use std::alloc::System;

#[global_allocator]
static A: System = System;

fn main() {
    let a = Box::new(4); // Allocates from the system allocator.
    println!("{a}");
}

You can also define your own wrapper around System if you’d like, such as keeping track of the number of all bytes allocated:

use std::alloc::{System, GlobalAlloc, Layout};
use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicUsize, Ordering::Relaxed};

struct Counter;

static ALLOCATED: AtomicUsize = AtomicUsize::new(0);

unsafe impl GlobalAlloc for Counter {
    unsafe fn alloc(&self, layout: Layout) -> *mut u8 {
        let ret = unsafe { System.alloc(layout) };
        if !ret.is_null() {
            ALLOCATED.fetch_add(layout.size(), Relaxed);
        }
        ret
    }

    unsafe fn dealloc(&self, ptr: *mut u8, layout: Layout) {
        unsafe { System.dealloc(ptr, layout); }
        ALLOCATED.fetch_sub(layout.size(), Relaxed);
    }
}

#[global_allocator]
static A: Counter = Counter;

fn main() {
    println!("allocated bytes before main: {}", ALLOCATED.load(Relaxed));
}

It can also be used directly to allocate memory independently of whatever global allocator has been selected for a Rust program. For example if a Rust program opts in to using jemalloc as the global allocator, System will still allocate memory using malloc and HeapAlloc.