Question

Please consider the following code:

vector<int> myVector;
myVector.push_back(10);
myVector.erase(myVector.end());

This code compiles and runs fine on Windows (VisualStudio), but results in a segfault on Linux when compiled with g++. Replacing erase with pop_back solves the problem on Linux.

Does anyone know why the behaviour is different on the two platforms, and what behaviour to consider correct.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

end() typically returns an invalid position in the array (one beyond the end).

pop_back() removes the last item in the vector.

If you want to erase, you have to do erase(end() - 1); here end() - 1 returns an iterator to the last item.

erase(end()) should invoke UB – which I think is correct…

EDIT: as Martin pointed out, before calling erase(end() - 1), check that the vector is not empty!