Containers vs Smart pointers in C++

Question

How can I decide when choosing between std::containers (std::vector or std::array) and smart pointers pointing to arrays

I know containers are objects for memory managment. They are exception safe and there will not be any memory leak and they also provide veriuty of functions for memory managment(push.back etc) and smart pointers are pointer that also do not leak memory because they delete themsefs when they are not needed anymore(like unique_ptr when geting out of scope). Propably in containers there is an overhead every time they are created.

My question is how can i decide which method to use and why.

std::vector <unsigned char>myArray(3 * outputImageHight * outputImageWidth);

std::unique_ptr<unsigned char[]>myArray(new unsigned char[3 * outputImageHight * outputImageWidth]);

Answer 1

I would use the vector. Your pointer version offers basically no improvements over the vector, and you lose a lot of useful functionality. You're most likely going to need to measure the size and iterate your array at some point, with a vector you get this for free, whereas you'd need to implement it yourself for your pointer version; at which point you may as well have just used the vector to begin with.

There may be a performance cost instantiating the vector, but I doubt that it would be a bottleneck for most applications. If you're creating so many vectors that instantiating them is costing you time, you can probably be smarter about managing them (pooling your memory, custom vector allocators, etc). If in doubt, measure.

One example where you might need to use the unique_ptr<> version might be if you're working with a library written in C where you lose ownership of the array. For example:

std::unique_ptr<unsigned char[]>myArray(
    new unsigned char[3 * outputImageHight * outputImageWidth]);

my_c_lib_data_t cLibData;
int result = my_c_lib_set_image(cLibData, myArray);

if (MYLIB_SUCCESS == result)
    // mylib successfully took ownership of the char array, so release the pointer.
    myArray.release();

If you have the choice though, prefer to use C++ style containers where you can.