The original title is "When to Use C++ STL Containers Instead of Raw Arrays"

Short summary

A beginner-oriented guide to C++ STL containers, explaining when to use vector, map, unordered_map, set, and unordered_set instead of raw arrays. Each container is introduced with a code example and a practical rule of thumb: vector for indexed lists, unordered_map for key-value lookup, set for uniqueness tracking. The article covers 90% of common use cases but skips advanced containers like deque except to discourage casual use.

• •Use vector instead of raw arrays for resizable, self-sizing lists
• •Use unordered_map for O(1) key-value lookup; switch to map if you need sorted keys
• •Use set or unordered_set for tracking seen values and deduplication

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.