std::map

Code:

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int main()
{
  typedef std::map<string, int>::const_iterator Iter;
 
  std::map<string, int> words;          // Map to store words and word counts
  cout << "Enter some text and press Enter followed by Ctrl+Z to end:"
      << endl << endl;

  std::istream_iterator<string> begin(cin); // Stream iterator
  std::istream_iterator<string> end;        // End stream iterator
  while(begin != end )                      // Iterate over words in the stream
    words[*begin++]++;                      // Increment and store a word count

  // Output the words and their counts
  cout << endl << "Here are the word counts for the text you entered:" << endl;
  for(Iter iter = words.begin() ; iter != words.end() ; ++iter)
    cout << std::setw(5) << iter->second << " " << iter->first << endl;

  return 0;
}

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The above snippet tells the number of words in a given string, it works perfectly because it is from my book :D

So the confusion I'm having is that in the line bold

words[*begin++]++;

This would create a new pair in the map because there are no entries in the map and the key is the string in the stream pointed by begin right? How will it create the int???? and how does it gives 0 value to the int??? it has no default constructor???

Quote:

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Originally Posted by manzoor

This would create a new pair in the map because there are no entries in the map and the key is the string in the stream pointed by begin right?

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Yes, at least whenever begin points to a string that is not already a key in the map (in which case it merely increments the value of the element with that key).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by manzoor

How will it create the int???? and how does it gives 0 value to the int??? it has no default constructor???

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When an int is value-initialised, it is zero-initialised, i.e., it is initialised to 0.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by laserlight

When an int is value-initialised, it is zero-initialised, i.e., it is initialised to 0.

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And what does that means ??? If possible please explain ty

Are you aware that the constructor syntax T() can be used with the built-in types? For example, if we want to, we can write:

Code:

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int x = int();

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Now, what std::map's operator[] does is that it attempts to insert std::make_pair(key, T()). The T() notation causes the value-initialisation of an object of type T. When T is int, this means creating an int with the value of 0.

Built-in types support constructor-like syntax too:

Code:

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int n = int(); //"default-constructed" integer, has value 0

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So the template code

Code:

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template <class T>
...
T t = T();

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would also work for built-in types, and zero-initialize them.

Thank you guys for the easy to understandable explanation :)

Best place to ask C++ Questions

What should I read next to know about the details of C++?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by manzoor

Thank you guys for the easy to understandable explanation :)

Best place to ask C++ Questions

What should I read next to know about the details of C++?

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If you're after something online, then I recommend these articles: http://www.gotw.ca/gotw/

For the original topic starter, why not just a vector?

Vector[JustSomeInteger++] = word; ??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by execute

For the original topic starter, why not just a vector?

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Because the aim is to record how many times each distinct word appears in the input. What you would be doing is storing in a vector all the words found in the input (and in your given example, you assume that the total number of words is known in advance).

No, then you can just do a search with vector, and find how many times you've recorded it.

Only arrays -- is when you need to know the number in advance.

vectors and maps are the same, except that maps are used to associative assigning for keys. They can probably both be used in this situation, I just wanted to simplify it with vectors.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by execute

vectors and maps are the same, except that maps are used to associative assigning for keys. They can probably both be used in this situation, I just wanted to simplify it with vectors.

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I'd say there are other significant differences, such as insertion/lookup complexity, and the fact that the ordering of elements in a map isn't under your control (except in the sense that the keys are arranged in increasing order)

You could use a vector, but a map has better complexity: Looking up a word and and inserting a word not in the list are both O(log N). With an unsorted vector finding a word is O(N), and inserting is O(1). With a sorted vector finding a word is O(log N), but inserting a word is very expensive.

Also, for related reasons, the map API helps a cleaner looking solution to the problem.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by execute

Only arrays -- is when you need to know the number in advance.

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However, your example use of a vector treats it as if the number of elements is known in advance. You should be using push_back() instead of just assigning to the element at the given index.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by execute

No, then you can just do a search with vector, and find how many times you've recorded it.
...
They can probably both be used in this situation, I just wanted to simplify it with vectors.

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If you actually tried to write your "simplification", you would probably find that it is not so simple (hence King Mir's remark that the "the map API helps a cleaner looking solution to the problem"). Besides, the concerns about complexity as pointed out by brewbuck and King Mir, how are you going to eliminate duplicates after counting them? This means that you have to do a little more than just count.

If you want complexity comparable to the solution with a map, then you have to sort, and then make a single pass over the sorted vector in which you detect each new word and begin counting until the next word, or the end of the vector. The std::equal_range generic algorithm could help with this, but it still would not be as simple as just inserting and then printing out the elements of a map.