Question

Which constructor does std::vector call when it is making a new instance of the object it’s containing? I am under the impression it calls a default constructor but what if one is not defined or is the compiler doing that for me?

Particularly in a case as such:

class Foo
{
    public:
        Foo(int size)
        {
            data = new double[size];
        }


        ~Foo()
        {
            delete[] data;
        }

    private:
        double* data;
};

std::vector<Foo> myVector;
Foo bar(5);
myVector.push_back(bar);
//stuff

How does it know how much memory to allocate when the object has an unknown size until after construction?

Answer 1

At a minimum, for std::vector<T> to compile, T must be copy-constructible, and copy-assignable. If you want to use std::vector<T>::vector(int) (or std::vector<T>::resize()), then T must have be default-constructible. If any of these requirements are not fulfilled, the code will not compile.

…

C++03 standard, section 23.1 (discussing containers in general):

The type of objects stored in these components must meet the requirements of CopyConstructible types (20.1.3), and the additional requirements of Assignable types.

Section 20.1.4:

20.1.4 Default construction

The default constructor is not required. Certain container class member function signatures specify the default constructor as a default argument. T() shall be a well-defined expression (8.5) if one of those signatures is called using the default argument (8.3.6).