C++ map

No, it''s completely different, being an associative array.

std::map<string, int> m; // map strings to ints


m["foo"] = 4;
m["bar"] = 97;
m["sputnik"] = 1808;

cout 
<< m["foo"] << " " 
<< m["bar"] << " " 
<< m["sputnik"]
;

read up

Yes and no. There is an easy way to put data in mymap[key] = value;, but safe retrieval is slightly more complex, as you need to check whether the item sought is or isn't in the map.

std::map<KeyType, ValueType>::iterator it;
it = mymap.find(key);
if(it != mymap.end())
   value = it->second;
else
   std::cerr << "Key not found" << std::endl;  

Using indexing syntax for element access may have unwanted side-effects, since if the key doesn't exist, an element is created.

Edit - so, in leiavoia's example, if you did cout << m["leiavoia"];, a new item with key "leiavoia" and value zero (default int) would be created, and a zero printed. Which may or may not be what you wanted.

[edited by - Fruny on June 11, 2004 1:38:04 AM]