Snippet

Fixed-Size Containers with Standard Iterators

Unlike raw C-style arrays, std::array is a first-class container that doesn't decay to a pointer automatically. It knows its own size and supports the standard iterator interface (begin/end), making it compatible with all standard algorithms while maintaining zero-overhead performance.

snippet.cpp

cpp

#include <iostream>
#include <array>
#include <algorithm>
 
int main() {
    // std::array is a wrapper around a raw array
    std::array<int, 5> buffer = {42, 10, 5, 30, 22};
 
    // Supports standard iterators and algorithms
    std::sort(buffer.begin(), buffer.end());
 
    for (const int val : buffer) {
        std::cout << val << " ";
    }
 
    return 0;
}

Breakdown

std::array<int, 5> buffer = {42, 10, 5, 30, 22};

Defines a fixed-size array of 5 integers. The size is part of the type.

std::sort(buffer.begin(), buffer.end());

Uses standard library sorting on the fixed-size container.

Previous snippet Next snippet

More Intermediate C++ exercises →

Fixed-Size Containers with Standard Iterators

Related