Question

Suppose I have a std::vector of structs. What happens to the memory if the vector is clear()’d?

std::vector<myStruct> vecs;
vecs.resize(10000);
vecs.clear();

Will the memory be freed, or still attached to the vecs variable as a reusable buffer?

Answer 1

The memory remains attached to the vector. That isn’t just likely either. It’s required. In particular, if you were to add elements to the vector again after calling clear(), the vector must not reallocate until you add more elements than the 10000 as it was previously sized.

If you want to free the memory, the usual is to swap with an empty vector. C++11 also adds a shrink_to_fit member function that’s intended to provide roughly the same capability more directly, but it’s non-binding (in other words, it’s likely to release extra memory, but still not truly required to do so).