Can std::vector be treated like an array

Question

Can a std::vector<char> be treated like an array in this way:

std::vector<char> v(10);
strncpy(&v[0], "hello", 9); // <-- Is this safe?

Answer 1

Yes, that's fine. As of C++03, vector is required to have contiguous storage.

As of C++11, the same is true for std::string, by the way; and you can say v.data() as a synonym for &v[0] (which is also valid when v is empty).