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# std::vector

From cppreference.com
< cpp‎ | container

Defined in header `<vector>` |  |
template< class T, class Allocator = std::allocator<T> > class vector; |  |

`std::vector` is a sequence container that encapsulates dynamic size arrays.

The elements are stored contiguously, which means that elements can be accessed not only through iterators, but also using offsets on regular pointers to elements. This means that a pointer to an element of a vector may be passed to any function that expects a pointer to an element of an array.

The storage of the vector is handled automatically, being expanded and contracted as needed. Vectors usually occupy more space than static arrays, because more memory is allocated to handle future growth. This way a vector does not need to reallocate each time an element is inserted, but only when the additional memory is exhausted. The total amount of allocated memory can be queried using capacity() function. Extra memory can be returned to the system via a call to shrink_to_fit(). (since C++11)

Reallocations are usually costly operations in terms of performance. reserve() function can be used to eliminate reallocations if the number of elements is known beforehand.

The complexity (efficiency) of common operations on vectors is as follows:

- Random access - constant O(1)
- Insertion or removal of elements at the end - amortized constant O(1)
- Insertion or removal of elements - linear in distance to the end of the vector O(n)

`std::vector` meets the requirements of `Container`, `AllocatorAwareContainer`, `SequenceContainer` and `ReversibleContainer`.

### [edit] Template parameters

T | - | The type of the elements.
`T` must meet the requirements of `CopyAssignable` and `CopyConstructible`. | (until C++11)
The requirements that are imposed on the elements depend on the actual operations performed on the container. Generally, it is required that element type is a complete type and meets the requirements of `MoveConstructible` and `MoveAssignable`, but many member functions impose stricter requirements. | (since C++11)
[edit]
Allocator | - | An allocator that is used to acquire memory to store the elements. The type must meet the requirements of `Allocator`. [edit]

### [edit] Specializations

The standard library provides a specialization of `std::vector` for the type bool, which is optimized for space efficiency.

vector<bool> | space-efficient dynamic bitset (class template specialization) [edit]

### [edit] Iterator invalidation

| This section is incomplete

There are still a few inaccuracies in this section.

Operations | Invalidated
--- | ---
All read only operations, swap, std::swap | Never
reserve, shrink_to_fit, clear, operator= | Always
erase | Erased elements + all elements after them (including end())
push_back, emplace_back | If the vector changed capacity, all of them. If not, only end().
insert, emplace, resize | If the vector changed capacity, all of them. If not, only those after the insertion point.
pop_back | The element erased and end().

### [edit] Member types

Member type | Definition
`value_type` | `T` [edit]
`allocator_type` | `Allocator` [edit]
`size_type` | Unsigned integral type (usually std::size_t) [edit]
`difference_type` | Signed integer type (usually std::ptrdiff_t) [edit]
`reference` |
`Allocator::reference` | (until C++11)
`value_type&` | (since C++11)
[edit]
`const_reference` |
`Allocator::const_reference` | (until C++11)
`const value_type&` | (since C++11)
[edit]
`pointer` |
`Allocator::pointer` | (until C++11)
std::allocator_traits<Allocator>::pointer | (since C++11)
[edit]
`const_pointer` |
`Allocator::const_pointer` | (until C++11)
std::allocator_traits<Allocator>::const_pointer | (since C++11)
[edit]
`iterator` | `RandomAccessIterator` [edit]
`const_iterator` | Constant random access iterator [edit]
`reverse_iterator` | std::reverse_iterator<iterator> [edit]
`const_reverse_iterator` | std::reverse_iterator<const_iterator> [edit]

### [edit] Member functions

(constructor) | constructs the `vector` (public member function) [edit]
(destructor) | destructs the `vector` (public member function) [edit]
operator= | assigns values to the container (public member function) [edit]
assign | assigns values to the container (public member function) [edit]
get_allocator | returns the associated allocator (public member function) [edit]
##### Element access
at | access specified element with bounds checking (public member function) [edit]
operator[] | access specified element (public member function) [edit]
front | access the first element (public member function) [edit]
back | access the last element (public member function) [edit]
data (C++11) | direct access to the underlying array (public member function) [edit]
##### Iterators
begin cbegin | returns an iterator to the beginning (public member function) [edit]
end cend | returns an iterator to the end (public member function) [edit]
rbegin crbegin | returns a reverse iterator to the beginning (public member function) [edit]
rend crend | returns a reverse iterator to the end (public member function) [edit]
##### Capacity
empty | checks whether the container is empty (public member function) [edit]
size | returns the number of elements (public member function) [edit]
max_size | returns the maximum possible number of elements (public member function) [edit]
reserve | reserves storage (public member function) [edit]
capacity | returns the number of elements that can be held in currently allocated storage (public member function) [edit]
shrink_to_fit (C++11) | reduces memory usage by freeing unused memory (public member function) [edit]
##### Modifiers
clear | clears the contents (public member function) [edit]
insert | inserts elements (public member function) [edit]
emplace (C++11) | constructs element in-place (public member function) [edit]
erase | erases elements (public member function) [edit]
push_back | adds elements to the end (public member function) [edit]
emplace_back (C++11) | constructs elements in-place at the end (public member function) [edit]
pop_back | removes the last element (public member function) [edit]
resize | changes the number of elements stored (public member function) [edit]
swap | swaps the contents (public member function) [edit]

### [edit] Non-member functions

operator==operator!=operator<operator<=operator>operator>= | lexicographically compares the values in the vector (function template) [edit]
std::swap(std::vector) | specializes the std::swap algorithm (function template) [edit]

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