I've always thought it's the general wisdom that std::vector
is "implemented as an array," blah blah blah. Today I went down and tested it, and it seems to be not so:
Here's some test results:
UseArray completed in 2.619 seconds
UseVector completed in 9.284 seconds
UseVectorPushBack completed in 14.669 seconds
The whole thing completed in 26.591 seconds
That's about 3 - 4 times slower! Doesn't really justify for the "vector
may be slower for a few nanosecs" comments.
And the code I used:
#include <cstdlib>
#include <vector>
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <boost/date_time/posix_time/ptime.hpp>
#include <boost/date_time/microsec_time_clock.hpp>
class TestTimer
{
public:
TestTimer(const std::string & name) : name(name),
start(boost::date_time::microsec_clock<boost::posix_time::ptime>::local_time())
{
}
~TestTimer()
{
using namespace std;
using namespace boost;
posix_time::ptime now(date_time::microsec_clock<posix_time::ptime>::local_time());
posix_time::time_duration d = now - start;
cout << name << " completed in " << d.total_milliseconds() / 1000.0 <<
" seconds" << endl;
}
private:
std::string name;
boost::posix_time::ptime start;
};
struct Pixel
{
Pixel()
{
}
Pixel(unsigned char r, unsigned char g, unsigned char b) : r(r), g(g), b(b)
{
}
unsigned char r, g, b;
};
void UseVector()
{
TestTimer t("UseVector");
for(int i = 0; i < 1000; ++i)
{
int dimension = 999;
std::vector<Pixel> pixels;
pixels.resize(dimension * dimension);
for(int i = 0; i < dimension * dimension; ++i)
{
pixels[i].r = 255;
pixels[i].g = 0;
pixels[i].b = 0;
}
}
}
void UseVectorPushBack()
{
TestTimer t("UseVectorPushBack");
for(int i = 0; i < 1000; ++i)
{
int dimension = 999;
std::vector<Pixel> pixels;
pixels.reserve(dimension * dimension);
for(int i = 0; i < dimension * dimension; ++i)
pixels.push_back(Pixel(255, 0, 0));
}
}
void UseArray()
{
TestTimer t("UseArray");
for(int i = 0; i < 1000; ++i)
{
int dimension = 999;
Pixel * pixels = (Pixel *)malloc(sizeof(Pixel) * dimension * dimension);
for(int i = 0 ; i < dimension * dimension; ++i)
{
pixels[i].r = 255;
pixels[i].g = 0;
pixels[i].b = 0;
}
free(pixels);
}
}
int main()
{
TestTimer t1("The whole thing");
UseArray();
UseVector();
UseVectorPushBack();
return 0;
}
Am I doing it wrong or something? Or have I just busted this performance myth?
I'm using Release mode in Visual Studio 2005.
In Visual C++, #define _SECURE_SCL 0
reduces UseVector
by half (bringing it down to 4 seconds). This is really huge, IMO.
vector
is a general purpose resizable array. Congratulations. As with all general purpose tools, it is possible to come up with specialized situations where it is sub-optimal. Which is why the conventional wisdom is to start with avector
and consider alternatives if neccessary. – Dennis Zickefoose