Qt Reference Documentation

# QVarLengthArray Class Reference

The QVarLengthArray class provides a low-level variable-length array. More...

     #include <QVarLengthArray>

Note: All functions in this class are reentrant.

- List of all members, including inherited members

## Public Types

typedef | const_iterator
typedef | const_pointer
typedef | const_reference
typedef | difference_type
typedef | iterator
typedef | pointer
typedef | reference
typedef | size_type
typedef | value_type

## Public Functions

| QVarLengthArray ( int size = 0 )
| QVarLengthArray ( const QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc> & other )
| ~QVarLengthArray ()
void | append ( const T & t )
void | append ( const T * buf, int size )
const T & | at ( int i ) const
iterator | begin ()
const_iterator | begin () const
int | capacity () const
void | clear ()
const_iterator | constBegin () const
const T * | constData () const
const_iterator | constEnd () const
int | count () const
T * | data ()
const T * | data () const
iterator | end ()
const_iterator | end () const
iterator | erase ( iterator pos )
iterator | erase ( iterator begin, iterator end )
void | insert ( int i, const T & value )
iterator | insert ( iterator before, int count, const T & value )
void | insert ( int i, int count, const T & value )
iterator | insert ( iterator before, const T & value )
bool | isEmpty () const
void | prepend ( const T & value )
void | remove ( int i )
void | remove ( int i, int count )
void | removeLast ()
void | replace ( int i, const T & value )
void | reserve ( int size )
void | resize ( int size )
int | size () const
T | value ( int i ) const
T | value ( int i, const T & defaultValue ) const
QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc> & | operator+= ( const T & value )
QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc> & | operator<< ( const T & value )
QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc> & | operator= ( const QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc> & other )
T & | operator[] ( int i )
const T & | operator[] ( int i ) const

## Related Non-Members

bool | operator!= ( const QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc1> & left, const QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc2> & right )
bool | operator== ( const QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc1> & left, const QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc2> & right )

## Detailed Description

The QVarLengthArray class provides a low-level variable-length array.

The C++ language doesn't support variable-length arrays on the stack. For example, the following code won't compile:

     int myfunc(int n)
     {
         int table[n + 1];  // WRONG
         ...
         return table[n];
     }

The alternative is to allocate the array on the heap (with `new`):

     int myfunc(int n)
     {
         int *table = new int[n + 1];
         ...
         int ret = table[n];
         delete[] table;
         return ret;
     }

However, if myfunc() is called very frequently from the application's inner loop, heap allocation can be a major source of slowdown.

QVarLengthArray is an attempt to work around this gap in the C++ language. It allocates a certain number of elements on the stack, and if you resize the array to a larger size, it automatically uses the heap instead. Stack allocation has the advantage that it is much faster than heap allocation.

Example:

     int myfunc(int n)
     {
         QVarLengthArray<int, 1024> array(n + 1);
         ...
         return array[n];
     }

In the example above, QVarLengthArray will preallocate 1024 elements on the stack and use them unless `n + 1` is greater than 1024. If you omit the second template argument, QVarLengthArray's default of 256 is used.

QVarLengthArray's value type must be an assignable data type. This covers most data types that are commonly used, but the compiler won't let you, for example, store a QWidget as a value; instead, store a QWidget *.

QVarLengthArray, like QVector, provides a resizable array data structure. The main differences between the two classes are:

- QVarLengthArray's API is much more low-level. It provides no iterators and lacks much of QVector's functionality.
- QVarLengthArray doesn't initialize the memory if the value is a basic type. (QVector always does.)
- QVector uses implicit sharing as a memory optimization. QVarLengthArray doesn't provide that feature; however, it usually produces slightly better performance due to reduced overhead, especially in tight loops.

In summary, QVarLengthArray is a low-level optimization class that only makes sense in very specific cases. It is used a few places inside Qt and was added to Qt's public API for the convenience of advanced users.

See also QVector, QList, and QLinkedList.

## Member Type Documentation

### typedef QVarLengthArray::const_iterator

Typedef for const T *. Provided for STL compatibility.

This typedef was introduced in Qt 4.7.

### typedef QVarLengthArray::const_pointer

Typedef for const T *. Provided for STL compatibility.

This typedef was introduced in Qt 4.7.

### typedef QVarLengthArray::const_reference

Typedef for const T &. Provided for STL compatibility.

This typedef was introduced in Qt 4.7.

### typedef QVarLengthArray::difference_type

Typedef for ptrdiff_t. Provided for STL compatibility.

This typedef was introduced in Qt 4.7.

### typedef QVarLengthArray::iterator

Typedef for T *. Provided for STL compatibility.

This typedef was introduced in Qt 4.7.

### typedef QVarLengthArray::pointer

Typedef for T *. Provided for STL compatibility.

This typedef was introduced in Qt 4.7.

### typedef QVarLengthArray::reference

Typedef for T &. Provided for STL compatibility.

This typedef was introduced in Qt 4.7.

### typedef QVarLengthArray::size_type

Typedef for int. Provided for STL compatibility.

This typedef was introduced in Qt 4.7.

### typedef QVarLengthArray::value_type

Typedef for T. Provided for STL compatibility.

This typedef was introduced in Qt 4.7.

## Member Function Documentation

### QVarLengthArray::QVarLengthArray ( int size = 0 )

Constructs an array with an initial size of size elements.

If the value type is a primitive type (e.g., char, int, float) or a pointer type (e.g., QWidget *), the elements are not initialized. For other types, the elements are initialized with a default-constructed value.

### QVarLengthArray::QVarLengthArray ( const QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc> & other )

Constructs a copy of other.

### QVarLengthArray::~QVarLengthArray ()

Destroys the array.

### void QVarLengthArray::append ( const T & t )

Appends item t to the array, extending the array if necessary.

See also removeLast().

### void QVarLengthArray::append ( const T * buf, int size )

Appends size amount of items referenced by buf to this array.

### const T & QVarLengthArray::at ( int i ) const

Returns a reference to the item at index position i.

i must be a valid index position in the array (i.e., 0 <= i < size()).

See also value() and operator[]().

### iterator QVarLengthArray::begin ()

Returns an STL-style iterator pointing to the first item in the array.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

See also constBegin() and end().

### const_iterator QVarLengthArray::begin () const

This is an overloaded function.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

### int QVarLengthArray::capacity () const

Returns the maximum number of elements that can be stored in the array without forcing a reallocation.

The sole purpose of this function is to provide a means of fine tuning QVarLengthArray's memory usage. In general, you will rarely ever need to call this function. If you want to know how many items are in the array, call size().

See also reserve().

### void QVarLengthArray::clear ()

Removes all the elements from the array.

Same as resize(0).

### const_iterator QVarLengthArray::constBegin () const

Returns a const STL-style iterator pointing to the first item in the array.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

See also begin() and constEnd().

### const T * QVarLengthArray::constData () const

Returns a const pointer to the data stored in the array. The pointer can be used to access the items in the array. The pointer remains valid as long as the array isn't reallocated.

This function is mostly useful to pass an array to a function that accepts a plain C++ array.

See also data() and operator[]().

### const_iterator QVarLengthArray::constEnd () const

Returns a const STL-style iterator pointing to the imaginary item after the last item in the array.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

See also constBegin() and end().

### int QVarLengthArray::count () const

Same as size().

See also isEmpty() and resize().

### T * QVarLengthArray::data ()

Returns a pointer to the data stored in the array. The pointer can be used to access and modify the items in the array.

Example:

     QVarLengthArray<int> array(10);
     int *data = array.data();
     for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i)
         data[i] = 2 * i;

The pointer remains valid as long as the array isn't reallocated.

This function is mostly useful to pass an array to a function that accepts a plain C++ array.

See also constData() and operator[]().

### const T * QVarLengthArray::data () const

This is an overloaded function.

### iterator QVarLengthArray::end ()

Returns an STL-style iterator pointing to the imaginary item after the last item in the array.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

See also begin() and constEnd().

### const_iterator QVarLengthArray::end () const

This is an overloaded function.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

### iterator QVarLengthArray::erase ( iterator pos )

Removes the item pointed to by the iterator pos from the vector, and returns an iterator to the next item in the vector (which may be end()).

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

See also insert() and remove().

### iterator QVarLengthArray::erase ( iterator begin, iterator end )

This is an overloaded function.

Removes all the items from begin up to (but not including) end. Returns an iterator to the same item that end referred to before the call.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

### void QVarLengthArray::insert ( int i, const T & value )

Inserts value at index position i in the array. If i is 0, the value is prepended to the vector. If i is size(), the value is appended to the vector.

For large arrays, this operation can be slow (linear time), because it requires moving all the items at indexes i and above by one position further in memory. If you want a container class that provides a fast insert() function, use QLinkedList instead.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

See also remove().

### iterator QVarLengthArray::insert ( iterator before, int count, const T & value )

Inserts count copies of value in front of the item pointed to by the iterator before. Returns an iterator pointing at the first of the inserted items.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

### void QVarLengthArray::insert ( int i, int count, const T & value )

This is an overloaded function.

Inserts count copies of value at index position i in the vector.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

### iterator QVarLengthArray::insert ( iterator before, const T & value )

This is an overloaded function.

Inserts value in front of the item pointed to by the iterator before. Returns an iterator pointing at the inserted item.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

### bool QVarLengthArray::isEmpty () const

Returns true if the array has size 0; otherwise returns false.

See also size() and resize().

### void QVarLengthArray::prepend ( const T & value )

Inserts value at the beginning of the array.

This is the same as vector.insert(0, value).

For large arrays, this operation can be slow (linear time), because it requires moving all the items in the vector by one position further in memory. If you want a container class that provides a fast prepend() function, use QList or QLinkedList instead.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

See also append() and insert().

### void QVarLengthArray::remove ( int i )

This is an overloaded function.

Removes the element at index position i.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

See also insert() and replace().

### void QVarLengthArray::remove ( int i, int count )

This is an overloaded function.

Removes count elements from the middle of the array, starting at index position i.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

See also insert() and replace().

### void QVarLengthArray::removeLast ()

Decreases the size of the array by one. The allocated size is not changed.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.5.

See also append().

### void QVarLengthArray::replace ( int i, const T & value )

Replaces the item at index position i with value.

i must be a valid index position in the array (i.e., 0 <= i < size()).

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

See also operator[]() and remove().

### void QVarLengthArray::reserve ( int size )

Attempts to allocate memory for at least size elements. If you know in advance how large the array can get, you can call this function and if you call resize() often, you are likely to get better performance. If size is an underestimate, the worst that will happen is that the QVarLengthArray will be a bit slower.

The sole purpose of this function is to provide a means of fine tuning QVarLengthArray's memory usage. In general, you will rarely ever need to call this function. If you want to change the size of the array, call resize().

See also capacity().

### void QVarLengthArray::resize ( int size )

Sets the size of the array to size. If size is greater than the current size, elements are added to the end. If size is less than the current size, elements are removed from the end.

If the value type is a primitive type (e.g., char, int, float) or a pointer type (e.g., QWidget *), new elements are not initialized. For other types, the elements are initialized with a default-constructed value.

See also size().

### int QVarLengthArray::size () const

Returns the number of elements in the array.

See also isEmpty() and resize().

### T QVarLengthArray::value ( int i ) const

Returns the value at index position i.

If the index i is out of bounds, the function returns a default-constructed value. If you are certain that i is within bounds, you can use at() instead, which is slightly faster.

See also at() and operator[]().

### T QVarLengthArray::value ( int i, const T & defaultValue ) const

This is an overloaded function.

If the index i is out of bounds, the function returns defaultValue.

### QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc> & QVarLengthArray::operator+= ( const T & value )

Appends value to the array and returns a reference to this vector.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

See also append() and operator<<().

### QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc> & QVarLengthArray::operator<< ( const T & value )

Appends value to the array and returns a reference to this vector.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

See also append() and operator+=().

### QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc> & QVarLengthArray::operator= ( const QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc> & other )

Assigns other to this array and returns a reference to this array.

### T & QVarLengthArray::operator[] ( int i )

Returns a reference to the item at index position i.

i must be a valid index position in the array (i.e., 0 <= i < size()).

See also data() and at().

### const T & QVarLengthArray::operator[] ( int i ) const

This is an overloaded function.

## Related Non-Members

### bool operator!= ( const QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc1> & left, const QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc2> & right )

Returns true if the two arrays, specified by left and right, are not equal.

Two arrays are considered equal if they contain the same values in the same order.

This function requires the value type to have an implementation of `operator==()`.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

See also operator==().

### bool operator== ( const QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc1> & left, const QVarLengthArray<T, Prealloc2> & right )

Returns true if the two arrays, specified by left and right, are equal.

Two arrays are considered equal if they contain the same values in the same order.

This function requires the value type to have an implementation of `operator==()`.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.8.

See also operator!=().