C++ Primer, Fifth Edition

9.3.5. Resizing a Container

With the usual exception of arrays, we can use resize, described in Table 9.9, to make a container larger or smaller. If the current size is greater than the requested size, elements are deleted from the back of the container; if the current size is less than the new size, elements are added to the back of the container:

list<int> ilist(10, 42); // ten ints: each has value 42ilist.resize(15);     // adds five elements of value 0 to the back of ilistilist.resize(25, -1); // adds ten elements of value -1 to the back of ilistilist.resize(5);      // erases 20 elements from the back of ilist

Table 9.9. Sequential Container Size Operations

The resize operation takes an optional element-value argument that it uses to initialize ...