How do I clear a C++ array?

Question

How do I clear/empty a C++ array? Theres array::fill, but looks like its C++11 only? I am using VC++ 2010. How do I empty it (reset to all 0)?

Answer 1

std::fill_n(array, elementCount, 0);

Assuming array is a normal array (e.g. int[])

Answer 2

Assuming a C-style array a of size N, with elements of a type implicitly convertible from 0, the following sets all the elements to values constructed from 0.

std::fill(a, a+N, 0);

Note that this is not the same as "emptying" or "clearing".

Edit: Following james Kanze's suggestion, in C++11 you could use the more idiomatic alternative

std::fill( std::begin( a ), std::end( a ), 0 );

In the absence of C++11, you could roll out your own solution along these lines:

template <typename T, std::size_t N> T* end_(T(&arr)[N]) { return arr + N; }

template <typename T, std::size_t N> T* begin_(T(&arr)[N]) { return arr; }

std::fill( begin_( a ), end_( a ), 0 );