C++ Vectors

C++ Vectors<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O />

 

Constructors

 

Syntax:

 

vector();   vector( size_type num, const TYPE &val );   vector( const vector &from );   vector( input_iterator start, input_iterator end );

C++ Vectors can be constructed with either:

 

· Nothing - which creates an empty vector,

 

· num and val - puts num copies of val in the vector,

 

· from - creates a vector with the same contents as from, or

 

· start and end - which creates a vector containing elements from start to end.

 

For example, the following example constructs a vector consisting of five copies of the integer 42.

 

vector<int> v1( 5, 42 );

 

at

 

Syntax: 

 

TYPE at( size_type loc );

The at() function returns a reference to the element in the current vector at loc. The at() function is safer than the [] operator, because it won't let you reference items outside the bounds of the vector. For example, consider the following code:

 

vector<int> v( 5, 1 );

 

 

for( int i = 0; i < 10; i++ ) {

 

 cout << "Element " << i << " is " << v[i] << endl;

 

}

 

 

This code overrunns the end of the vector, producing potentially dangerous results. The following code would be much safer:

 

vector<int> v( 5, 1 );

 

 

for( int i = 0; i < 10; i++ ) {

 

 cout << "Element " << i << " is " << v.at(i) << endl;

 

}

 

Instead of attempting to read garbage values from memory, the at() function will realize that it is about to overrun the vector and will throw an exception.

 

erase

 

Syntax:

 

iterator erase( iterator loc );   iterator erase( iterator start, iterator end );

The erase() function either deletes the element at location loc, or deletes the elements between start and end. The return value is the element after the last element erased. For example:

 

// Create a vector, load it with the first ten characters of the alphabet

 

vector<char> alphaVector;

 

for( int i=0; i < 10; i++ )

 

 alphaVector.push_back( i + 65 );

 

 

int size = alphaVector.size();

 

vector<char>::iterator startIterator;

 

vector<char>::iterator tempIterator;

 

 

for( int i=0; i < size; i++ ) {

 

 startIterator = alphaVector.begin();

 

 alphaVector.erase( startIterator );

 

 

 // Display the vector

 

 for( tempIterator = alphaVector.begin(); tempIterator != alphaVector.end(); tempIterator++ )

 

 cout << *tempIterator;

 

 cout << endl;

 

}

 

That code would display the following output:

 

BCDEFGHIJ

 

CDEFGHIJ

 

DEFGHIJ

 

EFGHIJ

 

FGHIJ

 

GHIJ

 

HIJ

 

IJ

 

J

 

pop_back

 

Syntax: 

 

void pop_back();

The function pop_back() deletes the last element in the current vector. For example:

 

vector<char> alphaVector;

 

for( int i=0; i < 10; i++ )

 

 alphaVector.push_back( i + 65 );

 

 

int size = alphaVector.size();

 

vector<char>::iterator theIterator;

 

for( int i=0; i < size; i++ ) {

 

 alphaVector.pop_back();

 

 for( theIterator = alphaVector.begin(); theIterator != alphaVector.end(); theIterator++ )

 

 cout << *theIterator;

 

 cout << endl;

 

}

 

This code displays the following output:

 

ABCDEFGHI

 

ABCDEFGH

 

ABCDEFG

 

ABCDEF

 

ABCDE

 

ABCD

 

ABC

 

AB

 

A

 

Related topics:
erase(). 

 

push_back

 

Syntax: 

 

void push_back( const TYPE &val );

The push_back() function appends val to the end of the current vector.

 

insert

 

Syntax: 

 

iterator insert( iterator loc, const TYPE &val );   void insert( iterator loc, size_type num, const TYPE &val );   void insert( iterator loc, input_iterator start, input_iterator end );

The function insert() either:

 

· inserts val before loc, returning an iterator to that element, 

 

· inserts num copies of val before loc, or 

 

· inserts the elements from start to end before loc. 

 

For example: 

 

// Create a vector, load it with the first 10 characters of the alphabet

 

vector<char> alphaVector;

 

for( int i=0; i < 10; i++ )

 

 alphaVector.push_back( i + 65 );

 

 

// Insert four C's into the vector

 

vector<char>::iterator theIterator = alphaVector.begin();

 

alphaVector.insert( theIterator, 4, 'C' );

 

 

// Display the vector

 

for( theIterator = alphaVector.begin(); theIterator != alphaVector.end(); theIterator++ )

 

 cout << *theIterator;

 

This code would display:

 

CCCCABCDEFGHIJ

 

size

 

Syntax: 

 

size_type size();

The size() function returns the number of elements in the current vector.