Menu
From a performance standpoint, the best reason to use std::list is so that when later on your app is suffering badly for performance and needs "an optimziation pass", you can replace it with another data structure and look like a hero.
For example, taking a bunch of random integers and inserting them in sorted order into a vector or a linked list -- the vector will always be faster, regardless of the number of items total, due to cache misses when searching for the insertion point in the linked list.
std::vector is insanely faster than std::list to find an element. std::vector performs always faster than std::list with very small data.
If you insert, remove, and move elements often in the middle of a container, consider using a list. Lists provide special member functions to move elements from one container to another in constant time.
C++11 requires list::size() to execute in constant time. GCC made this possible by adding the size as a data member. GCC did not do so for C++98 mode, because that would break binary compatibility.
Don't mix code compiled in C++98 mode with code compiled in C++11 mode. It doesn't work.
Update: apparently, the GCC folks had a change of heart, and C++11 conformance is less important than maintaining compatibility for now, so list::size() will no longer execute in constant time in GCC 4.7.2. It will in a future version, in both C++98 and C++11 modes.
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With