Which C 11 Standard Library Container Should I Use?

Choosing the Optimal C 11 Standard Library Container

The classic "C Container Choice" cheat sheet provides guidance on selecting the appropriate container for specific usage scenarios. However, it lacks an updated version for C 11.

To compensate, here is a textual workflow to aid in container selection:

1. Semantics First

Associative Containers:

• Use Associative Containers if you require searching by a single key.
• Choose Ordered Containers to maintain sorted elements.
• For separate key-value pairs, utilize Map; for only keys, consider Set.
• Enable duplicates with "multi" prefixes.

Simple Sequence Containers:

• Select an appropriate container based on the following criteria:

2. Memory Stability

• Use Lists if elements must remain in memory during container modifications.
• Default to List; use Forward_List only for reduced memory footprint.

3. Dynamic Sizing

• Employ Arrays if size is known at compile-time and remains constant, and elements are default constructible or initialized using curly braces.

4. Double-Ended

• Choose Deque if you need to add or remove items from both ends.
• Opt for Vector otherwise.

Examples

Scenario: Retrieving person data based on unique IDs.

• We require find functionality (Associative Container).
• Order is irrelevant (Unordered).
• Keys (IDs) are separate from values (Map).
• No duplicates (no "multi").

Result: std::unordered_map.

Note: If no specific constraints apply, Vector is recommended as the default choice for simple sequence containers.

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