Introduction to Vector Library

The Vector Library is a key component of the C++ Standard Template Library (STL). It provides dynamic array functionality, allowing you to store and manipulate a collection of elements of the same type.

Vectors are particularly important in C++ programming, as they offer several advantages:

1. Dynamic Resizing: Unlike static arrays, vectors can automatically resize themselves when needed. This flexibility makes vectors an ideal choice when the number of elements is unknown or may change during runtime.

2. Efficient Element Access: Vectors provide fast and direct access to individual elements using zero-index-based random access. This means you can efficiently retrieve or modify elements in constant time.

3. Range-Based For Loop: Vectors can be easily iterated using a range-based for loop syntax, making it convenient to process each element without worrying about index tracking.

To demonstrate the basic usage of the Vector Library, consider the following code snippet:

1#include <iostream>
2#include <vector>
3
4int main() {
5    std::vector<int> numbers {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
6
7    std::cout << "The elements in the vector are:" << std::endl;
8    for (int num : numbers) {
9        std::cout << num << " ";
10    }
11
12    return 0;
13}

In this example, we create a vector called numbers and initialize it with five integers. We then use a range-based for loop to iterate over the elements of the vector and print them to the console.

The output of the above code will be:

1The elements in the vector are:
21 2 3 4 5

As you can see, the vector stores the elements in the order they were added and allows easy access to each element.

The Vector Library offers many other operations and functionalities, including adding and removing elements, sorting, searching, and more. We will explore these in detail in the upcoming sections.

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#include <iostream>

#include <vector>

​

int main() {

    std::vector<int> numbers {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};

​

    std::cout << "The elements in the vector are:" << std::endl;

    for (int num : numbers) {

        std::cout << num << " ";

    }

​

    return 0;

}