Containers library

 

C++

Compiler support

Freestanding and hosted

Language

Standard library headers

Named requirements

Feature test macros (C++20)

Language support library

Concepts library (C++20)

Metaprogramming library (C++11)

Diagnostics library

General utilities library

Strings library

Containers library

Iterators library

Ranges library (C++20)

Algorithms library

Numerics library

Localizations library

Input/output library

Filesystem library (C++17)

Regular expressions library (C++11)

Concurrency support library (C++11)

Technical specifications

Symbols index

External libraries

 

Containers library

Sequence

array (C++11)

vector

deque

forward_list (C++11)

list

Associative

set

multiset

map

multimap

Unordered associative

unordered_set (C++11)

unordered_multiset (C++11)

unordered_map (C++11)

unordered_multimap (C++11)

Adaptors

stack

queue

priority_queue

Views

span (C++20)

 

The Containers library is a generic collection of class templates and algorithms that allow programmers to easily implement common data structures like queues, lists and stacks. There are three classes of containers -- sequence containers, associative containers, and unordered associative containers -- each of which is designed to support a different set of operations.

The container manages the storage space that is allocated for its elements and provides member functions to access them, either directly or through iterators (objects with properties similar to pointers).

Most containers have at least several member functions in common, and share functionalities. Which container is the best for the particular application depends not only on the offered functionality, but also on its efficiency for different workloads.

Sequence containers

Sequence containers implement data structures which can be accessed sequentially.

array (C++11)	static contiguous array (class template)
vector	dynamic contiguous array (class template)
deque	double-ended queue (class template)
forward_list (C++11)	singly-linked list (class template)
list	doubly-linked list (class template)

Associative containers

Associative containers implement sorted data structures that can be quickly searched (O(log n) complexity).

set	collection of unique keys, sorted by keys (class template)
map	collection of key-value pairs, sorted by keys, keys are unique (class template)
multiset	collection of keys, sorted by keys (class template)
multimap	collection of key-value pairs, sorted by keys (class template)

Unordered associative containers

Unordered associative containers implement unsorted (hashed) data structures that can be quickly searched (O(1) amortized, O(n) worst-case complexity).

unordered_set (C++11)	collection of unique keys, hashed by keys (class template)
unordered_map (C++11)	collection of key-value pairs, hashed by keys, keys are unique (class template)
unordered_multiset (C++11)	collection of keys, hashed by keys (class template)
unordered_multimap (C++11)	collection of key-value pairs, hashed by keys (class template)

Container adaptors

Container adaptors provide a different interface for sequential containers.

stack	adapts a container to provide stack (LIFO data structure) (class template)
queue	adapts a container to provide queue (FIFO data structure) (class template)
priority_queue	adapts a container to provide priority queue (class template)

span

A span is a non-owning view over a contiguous sequence of objects, the storage of which is owned by some other object.

span (C++20)

a non-owning view over a contiguous sequence of objects (class template)

Iterator invalidation

Read-only methods never invalidate iterators or references. Methods which modify the contents of a container may invalidate iterators and/or references, as summarized in this table.

Category	Container	After insertion, are...		After erasure, are...		Conditionally
		iterators valid?	references valid?	iterators valid?	references valid?
Sequence containers	array	N/A		N/A
	vector	No		N/A		Insertion changed capacity
		Yes		Yes		Before modified element(s) (for insertion only if capacity didn't change)
		No		No		At or after modified element(s)
	deque	No	Yes	Yes, except erased element(s)		Modified first or last element
			No	No		Modified middle only
	list	Yes		Yes, except erased element(s)
	forward_list	Yes		Yes, except erased element(s)
Associative containers	set multiset map multimap	Yes		Yes, except erased element(s)
Unordered associative containers	unordered_set unordered_multiset unordered_map unordered_multimap	No	Yes	N/A		Insertion caused rehash
		Yes		Yes, except erased element(s)		No rehash

Here, insertion refers to any method which adds one or more elements to the container and erasure refers to any method which removes one or more elements from the container.

• Examples of insertion methods are std::set::insert, std::map::emplace, std::vector::push_back, and std::deque::push_front.
  • Note that std::unordered_map::operator[] also counts, as it may insert an element into the map.

• Examples of erasure methods are std::set::erase, std::vector::pop_back, std::deque::pop_front, and std::map::clear.
  • clear invalidates all iterators and references. Because it erases all elements, this technically complies with the rules above.

The past-the-end iterator deserves particular mention. In general this iterator is invalidated as though it were a normal iterator to a non-erased element. So std::set::end is never invalidated, std::unordered_set::end is invalidated only on rehash, std::vector::end is always invalidated (since it is always after the modified elements), and so on.

There is one exception: an erasure which deletes the last element of a std::deque does invalidate the past-the-end iterator, even though it is not an erased element of the container (or an element at all). Combined with the general rules for std::deque iterators, the net result is that the only modifying operation which does not invalidate std::deque::end is an erasure which deletes the first element, but not the last.

Thread safety All container functions can be called concurrently by different threads on different containers. More generally, the C++ standard library functions do not read objects accessible by other threads unless those objects are directly or indirectly accessible via the function arguments, including the this pointer. All const member functions can be called concurrently by different threads on the same container. In addition, the member functions begin(), end(), rbegin(), rend(), front(), back(), data(), find(), lower_bound(), upper_bound(), equal_range(), at(), and, except in associative containers, operator[], behave as const for the purposes of thread safety (that is, they can also be called concurrently by different threads on the same container). More generally, the C++ standard library functions do not modify objects unless those objects are accessible, directly or indirectly, via the function's non-const arguments, including the this pointer. Different elements in the same container can be modified concurrently by different threads, except for the elements of std::vector<bool> (for example, a vector of std::future objects can be receiving values from multiple threads). Iterator operations (e.g. incrementing an iterator) read, but do not modify the underlying container, and may be executed concurrently with operations on other iterators on the same container, with the const member functions, or reads from the elements. Container operations that invalidate any iterators modify the container and cannot be executed concurrently with any operations on existing iterators even if those iterators are not invalidated. Elements of the same container can be modified concurrently with those member functions that are not specified to access these elements. More generally, the C++ standard library functions do not read objects indirectly accessible through their arguments (including other elements of a container) except when required by its specification. In any case, container operations (as well as algorithms, or any other C++ standard library functions) may be parallelized internally as long as this does not change the user-visible results (e.g. std::transform may be parallelized, but not std::for_each which is specified to visit each element of a sequence in order)

(since C++11)

Member function table

	- functions present in C++03
	- functions present since C++11
	- functions present since C++17
	- functions present since C++20

		Sequence containers					Associative containers				Unordered associative containers				Container adaptors
Header		<array>	<vector>	<deque>	<forward_list>	<list>	<set>		<map>		<unordered_set>		<unordered_map>		<stack>	<queue>
Container		array	vector	deque	forward_list	list	set	multiset	map	multimap	unordered_set	unordered_multiset	unordered_map	unordered_multimap	stack	queue	priority_queue
	(constructor)	(implicit)	vector	deque	forward_list	list	set	multiset	map	multimap	unordered_set	unordered_multiset	unordered_map	unordered_multimap	stack	queue	priority_queue
	(destructor)	(implicit)	~vector	~deque	~forward_list	~list	~set	~multiset	~map	~multimap	~unordered_set	~unordered_multiset	~unordered_map	~unordered_multimap	~stack	~queue	~priority_queue
	operator=	(implicit)	operator=	operator=	operator=	operator=	operator=	operator=	operator=	operator=	operator=	operator=	operator=	operator=	operator=	operator=	operator=
	assign		assign	assign	assign	assign
Iterators	begin cbegin	begin cbegin	begin cbegin	begin cbegin	begin cbegin	begin cbegin	begin cbegin	begin cbegin	begin cbegin	begin cbegin	begin cbegin	begin cbegin	begin cbegin	begin cbegin
	end cend	end cend	end cend	end cend	end cend	end cend	end cend	end cend	end cend	end cend	end cend	end cend	end cend	end cend
	rbegin crbegin	rbegin crbegin	rbegin crbegin	rbegin crbegin		rbegin crbegin	rbegin crbegin	rbegin crbegin	rbegin crbegin	rbegin crbegin
	rend crend	rend crend	rend crend	rend crend		rend crend	rend crend	rend crend	rend crend	rend crend
Element access	at	at	at	at					at				at
	operator[]	operator[]	operator[]	operator[]					operator[]				operator[]
	data	data	data
	front	front	front	front	front	front										front	top
	back	back	back	back		back									top	back
Capacity	empty	empty	empty	empty	empty	empty	empty	empty	empty	empty	empty	empty	empty	empty	empty	empty	empty
	size	size	size	size		size	size	size	size	size	size	size	size	size	size	size	size
	max_size	max_size	max_size	max_size	max_size	max_size	max_size	max_size	max_size	max_size	max_size	max_size	max_size	max_size
	resize		resize	resize	resize	resize
	capacity		capacity								bucket_count	bucket_count	bucket_count	bucket_count
	reserve		reserve								reserve	reserve	reserve	reserve
	shrink_to_fit		shrink_to_fit	shrink_to_fit
Modifiers	clear		clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear
	insert		insert	insert	insert_after	insert	insert	insert	insert	insert	insert	insert	insert	insert
	insert_or_assign								insert_or_assign				insert_or_assign
	emplace		emplace	emplace	emplace_after	emplace	emplace	emplace	emplace	emplace	emplace	emplace	emplace	emplace
	emplace_hint						emplace_hint	emplace_hint	emplace_hint	emplace_hint	emplace_hint	emplace_hint	emplace_hint	emplace_hint
	try_emplace								try_emplace				try_emplace
	erase		erase	erase	erase_after	erase	erase	erase	erase	erase	erase	erase	erase	erase
	push_front			push_front	push_front	push_front
	emplace_front			emplace_front	emplace_front	emplace_front
	pop_front			pop_front	pop_front	pop_front										pop	pop
	push_back		push_back	push_back		push_back									push	push	push
	emplace_back		emplace_back	emplace_back		emplace_back									emplace	emplace	emplace
	pop_back		pop_back	pop_back		pop_back									pop
	swap	swap	swap	swap	swap	swap	swap	swap	swap	swap	swap	swap	swap	swap	swap	swap	swap
	merge				merge	merge	merge	merge	merge	merge	merge	merge	merge	merge
	extract						extract	extract	extract	extract	extract	extract	extract	extract
List operations	splice				splice_after	splice
	remove				remove	remove
	remove_if				remove_if	remove_if
	reverse				reverse	reverse
	unique				unique	unique
	sort				sort	sort
Lookup	count						count	count	count	count	count	count	count	count
	find						find	find	find	find	find	find	find	find
	contains						contains	contains	contains	contains	contains	contains	contains	contains
	lower_bound						lower_bound	lower_bound	lower_bound	lower_bound
	upper_bound						upper_bound	upper_bound	upper_bound	upper_bound
	equal_range						equal_range	equal_range	equal_range	equal_range	equal_range	equal_range	equal_range	equal_range
Observers	key_comp						key_comp	key_comp	key_comp	key_comp
	value_comp						value_comp	value_comp	value_comp	value_comp
	hash_function										hash_function	hash_function	hash_function	hash_function
	key_eq										key_eq	key_eq	key_eq	key_eq
Allocator	get_allocator		get_allocator	get_allocator	get_allocator	get_allocator	get_allocator	get_allocator	get_allocator	get_allocator	get_allocator	get_allocator	get_allocator	get_allocator
Container		array	vector	deque	forward_list	list	set	multiset	map	multimap	unordered_set	unordered_multiset	unordered_map	unordered_multimap	stack	queue	priority_queue
		Sequence containers					Associative containers				Unordered associative containers				Container adaptors

See also

• C++ named requirements: Container

valarray

numeric arrays, array masks and array slices (class template)