All depends on what "api_result_t" is, right? If the API's result is a bucket of scalars, then passing the pointer could be perfectly fine. Same if api_result_t

All depends on what "api_result_t" is, right? If the API's result is a bucket of scalars, then passing the pointer could be perfectly fine. Same if api_result_t contains a pointer to a buffer, and the call just makes the buffer pointer point to a previously allocated block.