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std::unordered_map::operator[]

From cppreference.com
T& operator[]( const Key& key );
(1) (since C++11)
T& operator[]( Key&& key );
(2) (since C++11)

Inserts a new element to the container using key as the key and a default constructed mapped value and returns a reference to the newly constructed mapped value. If an element with key key already exists, no insertion is performed and a reference to its mapped value is returned.

1) Essentially performs (insert(std::make_pair(key, T())).first)->second
2) Essentially performs (insert(std::make_pair(std::move(key), T())).first)->second

If an insertion occurs and results in a rehashing of the container, all iterators are invalidated. Otherwise iterators are not affected. References are not invalidated. Rehashing occurs only if the new number of elements is equal to or greater than max_load_factor()*bucket_count().

Contents

[edit] Parameters

key - the key of the element to find

[edit] Return value

Reference to the mapped value of the new element if no element with key key existed. Otherwise a reference to the mapped value of the existing element is returned.

[edit] Exceptions

If an exception is thrown by any operation, the insertion has no effect

[edit] Complexity

Average case: constant, worst case: linear in size.

[edit] Example

This example demonstrates how to modify existing values and insert new values using operator[]:

#include <iostream>
#include <unordered_map>
 
int main()
{
    std::unordered_map<char, int> letter_counts {{'a', 27}, {'b', 3}, {'c', 1}};
 
    std::cout << "initially:\n";
    for (const auto &pair : letter_counts) {
        std::cout << pair.first << ": " << pair.second << '\n';
    }
 
    letter_counts['b'] = 42;  // update an existing value
 
    letter_counts['x'] = 9;  // insert a new value
 
    std::cout << "after modifications:\n";
    for (const auto &pair : letter_counts) {
        std::cout << pair.first << ": " << pair.second << '\n';
    }
}

Output:

initially:
a: 27
b: 3
c: 1
after modifications:
a: 27
b: 42
c: 1
x: 9

The following example counts the occurrences of each word in a vector of strings:

#include <string>
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <unordered_map>
 
int main()
{
    std::vector<std::string> words = { 
        "this", "sentence", "is", "not", "a", "sentence",
	"this", "sentence", "is", "a", "hoax" 
    };
 
    std::unordered_map<std::string, size_t>  word_map;
    for (const auto &w : words) {
        ++word_map[w];
    }
 
    for (const auto &pair : word_map) {
        std::cout << pair.second
	          << " occurrences of word '"
	          << pair.first << "'\n";
    }
}

Output:

1 occurrences of word 'hoax'
2 occurrences of word 'this'
2 occurrences of word 'a'
2 occurrences of word 'is'
1 occurrences of word 'not'
3 occurrences of word 'sentence'

[edit] See also

access specified element with bounds checking
(public member function) [edit]