Simple dictionary in C++

Question

Moving some code from Python to C++.

BASEPAIRS = { \"T\": \"A\", \"A\": \"T\", \"G\": \"C\", \"C\": \"G\" }

Thinking maps might be overkill? W

Answer 1

Here's the map solution:

#include <iostream>
#include <map>

typedef std::map<char, char> BasePairMap;

int main()
{
    BasePairMap m;
    m['A'] = 'T';
    m['T'] = 'A';
    m['C'] = 'G';
    m['G'] = 'C';

    std::cout << "A:" << m['A'] << std::endl;
    std::cout << "T:" << m['T'] << std::endl;
    std::cout << "C:" << m['C'] << std::endl;
    std::cout << "G:" << m['G'] << std::endl;

    return 0;
}

Answer 2

Until I was really concerned about performance, I would use a function, that takes a base and returns its match:

char base_pair(char base)
{
    switch(base) {
        case 'T': return 'A';
        ... etc
        default: // handle error
    }
}

If I was concerned about performance, I would define a base as one fourth of a byte. 0 would represent A, 1 would represent G, 2 would represent C, and 3 would represent T. Then I would pack 4 bases into a byte, and to get their pairs, I would simply take the complement.