allocation of four dimensional array memory

[Irfan Ahmed <ahm_irf@xxxxxxxxx>]

I need four dimensional array like
double a[256][256][256][256];


but the size is too big to use an array.

If I use only pointer like
double ****a;

to allocate this memory, I have to run 3 loops to allocate memory ..which takes lots of time.
a = (double **** ) malloc (sizeof(double ***)*256);
for(i=0;i<256;i++)
{
a[i] = (double ***) malloc ( sizeof(double **)*256);
for(j=0;j<256;j++)
{
a[i][j] = (double **) malloc ( sizeof(double *)*256);
for(k=0;k<256;k++)
{
a[i][j][k] = (double *) malloc ( sizeof(double )*256);
}
}
}


is there any other work around ....?

I was thinking to use *a[256][256][256]
Can I use this ...and if yes how I can allocate the memory for this...?

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