Question

I have a weird problem with vector in C++..

I created a vector and inserted 10000 integer values into it and have checked the memory utilization. It is 600 kb. But after i erased the vector, still my system monitor says the program uses 600 kb.

Can anyone explain why the memory is not getting freed even after i erase the vector

Note: I have used all the methods for deletion(erase,pop_front,pop_back,clear…Even then I have the same problem)

Thanks and regards…:)

Answer 1

The only way to really get rid off unused memory in a std::vector<> pre C++11 is to swap it with an empty vector: vector<int>().swap(myvec). In C++11 you have a member function shrink_to_fit which often is implemented as the swap idiom just mentioned.