Fastest way to copy the contents of a vector into an array? [duplicate]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
How to convert vector to array C++

When working with arrays you have the ability to use

memcpy( void *destination, const void *source, size_t num );

However vectors simply provide iterators for a copy method, rendering memcpy useless. What is the fastest method for copying the contents a vector to another location?

Answer 1

std::copy, hands down. It’s heavily optimised to use the best available method internally. It’s thus completely on par with memcpy. There is no reason ever to use memcpy, even when copying between C-style arrays or memory buffers.

Answer 2

You'll have to measure that for yourself, in your environment, with your program. Any other answer will have too many caveats.

While you do that, here is one method you can compare against:

std::copy(source.begin(), source.end(), destination);