check type of element in stl container - c++

Question

how can i get the type of the elements that are held by a STL container?

Answer 1

container::value_type

Answer 2

For containers in general it will be X::value_type. For associative containers it will be X::mapped_type (X::value_type corresponds to pair<const Key,T>). It is according to Chapter 23 of C++ Standard.

To check that types are equal you could use boost::is_same. And since C++11 — std::is_same.