:orphan:
# PetscMemzero
Zeros the specified memory.
## Synopsis
```
static inline PetscErrorCode PetscMemzero(void *a, size_t n)
```
Not Collective
## Input Parameters
- ***a -*** pointer to beginning memory location
- ***n -*** length (in bytes) of memory to initialize
## Compile Option
`PETSC_PREFER_BZERO` - on certain machines (the IBM RS6000) the bzero() routine happens
to be faster than the memset() routine. This flag causes the bzero() routine to be used.
## Notes
Prefer `PetscArrayzero()`
## See Also
`PetscMemcpy()`, `PetscMemcmp()`, `PetscArrayzero()`, `PetscArraycmp()`, `PetscArraycpy()`, `PetscMemmove()`, `PetscStrallocpy()`
## Level
intermediate
## Location
include/petscstring.h
## Examples
src/ksp/ksp/tutorials/ex42.c
src/ksp/ksp/tutorials/ex43.c
src/ksp/ksp/tutorials/ex49.c
src/ksp/ksp/tutorials/ex70.c
src/snes/tutorials/ex48.c
src/sys/tutorials/ex5.c
src/ts/tutorials/ex10.c
src/ts/tutorials/ex11.c
src/ts/tutorials/ex11_sa.c
src/ts/tutorials/ex14.c
src/ts/tutorials/ex36.c
---
[Edit on GitLab](https://gitlab.com/petsc/petsc/-/edit/release/include/petscstring.h)
[Index of all Sys routines](index.md)
[Table of Contents for all manual pages](/manualpages/index.md)
[Index of all manual pages](/manualpages/singleindex.md)