diff --git a/src/rvprof_memory.c b/src/rvprof_memory.c
index 23e38dc..8a58553 100644
--- a/src/rvprof_memory.c
+++ b/src/rvprof_memory.c
@@ -1,2 +1,56 @@
 #include "rvprof_internal.h" 
 
+// custom malloc, realloc and free help us tracking the memory footprint of rvprof
+
+void* rvprof_malloc(size_t size){
+    void* ptr = malloc(size);
+    if (ptr) g_rvprof.total_memory_allocated += size;
+    return ptr;
+}
+
+void* rvprof_realloc(void* ptr, size_t old_size, size_t new_size){
+    void* new_ptr = realloc(ptr, new_size);
+    if (new_ptr) g_rvprof.total_memory_allocated += (new_size - old_size);
+    return new_ptr;
+}
+
+void rvprof_free(void* ptr, size_t size){
+    if(ptr){
+        free(ptr);
+        g_rvprof.total_memory_allocated -= size;
+    }
+}
+
+// DYNAMIC ARRAY MANAGEMENT
+
+// used for cleanup callbacks
+typedef void* (*cleanup_item_fn_t)(void* item);
+
+// generic ensure_capacity implementation, independent of actual array type
+// maybe if switching to C++ in the future, we may move from pre-processor magic to templates
+#define IMPLEMENT_ARRAY_ENSURE_CAPACITY(type, name, initial_size) \
+int name##_array_ensure_capacity(name##_array_t* arr, int needed){ \
+    if (needed >= arr-> capacity){ \
+        int new_capacity; \
+        if (arr->capacity == 0){ \
+            new_capacity = initial_size; \
+        } else { \
+            new_capacity = arr->capacity; \
+        } \
+        \
+        while (new_capacity <= needed){ \
+            new_capacity *= GROWTH_FACTOR; \
+        } \
+        \
+        size_t old_size = arr->capacity * sizeof(type); \
+        size_t new_size = new_capacity * sizeof(type); \
+        type* new_data = rvprof_realloc(arr->data, old_size, new_size); \
+        if(!new_data){ \
+            return RVPROF_ERROR_MEMORY; \
+        }\
+        \
+        arr->data = new_data; \
+        arr->capacity = new_capacity; \
+    }\
+    return RVPROF_SUCCESS;\
+}\