memory layout of vector<bool>

Question

Can someone please explain the memory layout of the data stored in a vector<bool>?

like what layout does the memory have from address &myVec[0] upwards? Does it depend on endianness? Is the memory continguous for all stored values? (i'm aware that vector<bool> doesn't actually store booleans). can I dump the content of a vector<bool> into a file using memcopy to get a bitmap of my values?

please no questions like "what do you need it for" or suggestions like using bitsets or boost.

Thank you for an accurate explanation

Answer 1

The std::vector will simply manage a raw array on the heap. So whan you do &myVec[0] you get the address of the first element of this array. As it's an array it...follows the rules of a raw array..

BUT

std::vector is a special case, a specific implementation, a mistake of the C++ commitee that is NOT a vector of bool but a container managing bits. So avoid using this one.