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The array is a wrapper class that provides an STL-like interface to standard fixed-size C arrays. It also overcomes several limitations of standard array.

Creation history

In his book Generic Programming and the STL, Matthew H. Austern introduces a wrapper class for ordinary arrays with static size, called block. It is safer and has no worse performance than ordinary arrays. In The C++ Programming Language, 3rd edition, Bjarne Stroustrup introduces a similar class, called c_array, which Nicolai Josuttis presents slightly modified in his book The C++ Standard Library - A Tutorial and Reference, called carray.

Under the name array this class is introduced in boost libraries by Nicolai Josuttis. Later this class was introduced in the C++ Standard Library in TR1.

Motivation

Standard C arrays have several principal limitations:

• They aren't value types. They can not be copied like any other object.
• They do not provide an STL-like interface.

Design

Array template class is defined in header <array> in the C++ standard library and in header <boost/array.hpp> in boost. It can reside in namespaces std:: (in C++0x), std::tr1:: (in C++03 with TR1) or boost::.

The array class template is parametrized with a type of element and a number of elements. It can be instantiated with any type that fulfills the CopyConstructible and Assignable requirements. It also itself fulfills CopyConstructible and Assignable requirements.

If array class template is instantiated with a type that fulfills EqualityComparable or LessThanComparable requirements, it fulfills EqualityComparable or LessThanComparable correspondingly.

Class also provides standard iterators and element access functions.

Implementation as aggregate

array class is implemented as an aggregate class. This allows an array to be initialized with a brace-enclosing, comma-separated list of initializers for the elements of the container, written in increasing subscript order:

array<int, 4> a = { { 1, 2, 3 } };

Note that if there are fewer elements in the initializer list, then each remaining element gets default-initialized (thus, it has a defined value).

However, this approach has its drawbacks: passing no initializer list means that the elements have an indeterminate initial value, because the rule says that aggregates may have:

• No user-declared constructors.
• No private or protected non-static data members.
• No base classes.
• No virtual functions.

Note that for standard conforming compilers it is possible to use fewer braces (according to 8.5.1 (11) of the Standard). That is, array can be initialized as follows:

array<int, 4> a = { 1, 2, 3 };

Differences from standard array

• array class is a value type. It satisfies CopyConstructable and Assignable requirements.
• array class can not be implicitly cast to T * or T const *. However there is member function data() that returns a pointer to first element.
• array implementation is not required to do bound check. However implementation in boost do that for operator, but not for iterators.

Zero-sized arrays

Unlike standard arrays, array class can have zero size. The effect of calling front() or back() for a zero-sized array is implementation defined. begin() == end() shall be unique value. The return value of data() is unspecified.

Differences from standard containers

• array class does not provide constant-time swap. Instead it provides linear-time swap.
• Because array class is aggregate it does not provide fill and range constructors. Its default constructor also does not initialize elements with zeros.
• size() is always constant, based on the second template argument of the type.
• The container provides no allocator support.

Overview of functions

An object of array class can be created using default constructor, copy constructor or initializer list syntax.

Array class provides swap function and assignment operator. The only difference from other containers is that swap takes linear time.

Although TR1 define function assign to fill array with specified value, C++0x has function fill intended for the same purpose. Boost implementation of array supports both functions.

Array class provides standard iterator interface.

Array class provides standard query-capacity functions.

Array class provides standard set of element access functions.

Array class has six standard comparison operators.

Raw data access functions.

Array class provides standard tuple interface.

Array class provides standard set of dependent types.

External links

• A Proposal to Add a Fixed Size Array Wrapper to the Standard Library Technical Report
• Boost.Array documentation

• C++ Standard Library