how-to initialize 'const std::vector' like a c array

Question

Is there an elegant way to create and initialize a const std::vector like const T a[] = { ... } to a fixed (and small) number of val

Answer 1

Old question, but I ran into the same issue today, here's the approach that was most acceptable for my purposes:

vector<int> initVector(void)
{
    vector<int> initializer;
    initializer.push_back(10);
    initializer.push_back(13);
    initializer.push_back(3);
    return intializer;
}

int main()
{
    const vector<int> a = initVector();
    return 0;
}

Example to avoid excessive copying:

vector<int> & initVector(void)
{
    static vector<int> initializer;
    if(initializer.empty())
    {
        initializer.push_back(10);
        initializer.push_back(13);
        initializer.push_back(3);
    }
    return intializer;
}

int main()
{
    const vector<int> & a = initVector();
    return 0;
}

Answer 2

As others have said, you can't init a vector the same way you can init a C-style array, unless you give it pointers to a source array. But in that case, if your vector is a global const, why not just use an old C-style array instead?

const int MyInts[] = {
1, 2, 3, 4, 5};

const size_t NumMyInts = sizeof(MyInts)/sizeof(MyInts[0]);

You can even use STL algorithms against this array, the same way you would use algorithms against a const vector...

const int* myInt = std::find( &MyInts[0], &MyInts[NumMyInts], 3);

Answer 3

You can do it in two steps:

namespace {
    const T s_actual_array[] = { ... };
    const std::vector<const T> s_blah(s_actual_array,
        s_actual_array + (sizeof(s_actual_array) / sizeof(s_actual_array[0])));
}

Perhaps not as beautiful as you might like, but functional.

Answer 4

Short and dirty way (similar to Boost's list_of())

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <iterator>
#include <algorithm>
using namespace std;

template <typename T>
struct vlist_of : public vector<T> {
    vlist_of(const T& t) {
        (*this)(t);
    }
    vlist_of& operator()(const T& t) {
        this->push_back(t);
        return *this;
    }
};

int main() {
    const vector<int> v = vlist_of<int>(1)(2)(3)(4)(5);
    copy(v.begin(), v.end(), ostream_iterator<int>(cout, "\n"));
}

Now, C++11 has initializer lists, so you don't need to do it that way or even use Boost. But, as an example, you can do the above in C++11 more efficiently like this:

    #include <iostream>
    #include <vector>
    #include <utility>
    #include <ostream>
    using namespace std;

    template <typename T>
    struct vlist_of : public vector<T> {
        vlist_of(T&& t) {
            (*this)(move(t));
        }
        vlist_of& operator()(T&& t) {
            this->push_back(move(t));
            return *this;
        }
    };

    int main() {
        const vector<int> v = vlist_of<int>(1)(2)(3)(4)(5);
        for (const auto& i: v) {
            cout << i << endl;
        }
    }

But, it's still not as efficient as using a C++11 initializer list because there's no operator=(vlist_of&&) defined for vector.

tjohns20's way modified like the following might be a better c++11 vlist_of:

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <utility>
using namespace std;

template <typename T>
class vlist_of {
    public:
        vlist_of(T&& r) {
            (*this)(move(r));
        }
        vlist_of& operator()(T&& r) {
            v.push_back(move(r));
            return *this;
        }
        vector<T>&& operator()() {
            return move(v);
        }
    private:
        vector<T> v;
    
};

int main() {
    const auto v = vlist_of<int>(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)();
    for (const auto& i : v) {
        cout << i << endl;
    }
    
}