Std::Vector question

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Original post by VprMatrix89 My question is this : Does the std::vector guarantee that memory is contiguous

Yes. The C++ standard guarantees that.

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Just for reference:

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C++ International Standard 23.2.4 Class template vector 1 A vector is a kind of sequence that supports random access iterators. In addition, it supports (amortized) constant time insert and erase operations at the end; insert and erase in the middle take linear time. Storage management is handled automatically, though hints can be given to improve efficiency. The elements of a vector are stored contiguously, meaning that if v is a vector<T, Allocator> where T is some type other than bool, then it obeys the identity &v[n] == &v[0] + n for all 0 <= n < v.size().

Then I'm still confused as to the point of the iterator, as its just a pointer? If a normal pointer would suffice, whats the use?

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Original post by VprMatrix89 Then I'm still confused as to the point of the iterator, as its just a pointer? If a normal pointer would suffice, whats the use?

An iterator is not a pointer. Rather, in a way, a pointer is a type of iterator. This might help a little. Basically think of this: if you have a general algorithm, how can you get it to work with multiple containers? Clearly you can't simply use pointers (because some containers don't use contiguous memory). But if each container defines some iterator type that has a common interface, your general algorithm can work with lots of different containers. For example, try writing a reverse function that reverses the contents of some ordered container. That function is going to need iterators if it's going to work for both contiguous arrays and linked lists.

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Original post by VprMatrix89 Then I'm still confused as to the point of the iterator, as its just a pointer? If a normal pointer would suffice, whats the use?

1) By not making the assumption that a vector iterator is a pointer, you can write generic code that doesn't care (more than necessary) about iterator types.

2) It's a level of abstraction.

3) The iterator may implement bounds checking (although not required to) which a pointer cannot. This is particularly useful for debug builds (although I understand that with VC++ you have to explicitly turn off the bounds checking even in release mode).

4) Certain member functions of the vector expect iterators. A pointer will not be acceptable here, at least not portably.

5) In general, it's the other way around: pointers are a kind of iterator. Specifically, they're the iterator type for arrays. For example:

// The usual C++ waystd::string message = "hello world";std::string::iterator end = std::remove(message.begin(), message.end(), 'e');message.erase(end, last);// ZOMG, not std::string!char[] message = "hello world";// 'message' is decayed into a pointer to the beginning of the buffer, and// pointer arithmetic gives us a pointer to the end of the buffer.char* end = std::remove(message, message + sizeof(message), 'e');// Add a null terminator to "erase" the garbage at the end of the string.*end = '\0';