Essential C++

3.4. Using the Sequential Containers

A sequential container holds an ordered collection of elements of a single type. There is a first element, a second element, and so on, until the last element. The vector and the list are the two primary sequential containers. A vector holds its elements in a contiguous area of memory. Random access — for example, accessing element 5, then 17, and then 9 — is efficient; each element is a fixed offset from the beginning of the vector. Insertion of an element at any position other than the end of the vector, however, is inefficient; each element to the right of the inserted element must be shifted one by copying the value of each element in turn. Similarly, the deletion of any element other than the last element ...