std::array<T,N>::data

 

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std::array

Member types
Member functions
Element access array::at array::operator[]    array::front array::back array::data Operations array::fill array::swap	Iterators array::beginarray::cbegin array::endarray::cend array::rbeginarray::crbegin    array::rendarray::crend	Capacity array::empty array::size array::max_size
Non-member functions
operator==operator<=> (C++20) get(std::array) swap(std::array) to_array (C++20)	operator|=operator<operator>operator<=operator>= (until C++20)(until C++20)(until C++20)(until C++20)(until C++20)
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tuple_size<std::array>
tuple_element<std::array>
Deduction guides (C++17)

 

T* data() noexcept;	(1)	(since C++11) (constexpr since C++17)
const T* data() const noexcept;	(2)	(since C++11) (constexpr since C++17)

Returns a pointer to the underlying array serving as element storage. The pointer is such that range [data(), data() + size()) is always a valid range, even if the container is empty (data() is not dereferenceable in that case).

Parameters

(none)

Return value

Pointer to the underlying element storage. For non-empty containers, the returned pointer compares equal to the address of the first element.

Complexity

Constant.

Notes

If size() is ​0​, data() may or may not return a null pointer.

Example

Run this code

#include <cstddef>
#include <iostream>
#include <span>
#include <array>
 
void pointer_func(const int* p, std::size_t size)
{
    std::cout << "data = ";
    for (std::size_t i = 0; i < size; ++i)
        std::cout << p[i] << ' ';
    std::cout << '\n';
}
 
void span_func(std::span<const int> data) // since C++20
{
    std::cout << "data = ";
    for (const int e : data)
        std::cout << e << ' ';
    std::cout << '\n';
}
 
int main()
{
    std::array<int, 4> container{1, 2, 3, 4};
 
    // Prefer container.data() over &container[0]
    pointer_func(container.data(), container.size());
 
    // std::span is a safer alternative to separated pointer/size.
    span_func({container.data(), container.size()});
}

Output:

data = 1 2 3 4
data = 1 2 3 4

See also

front	access the first element (public member function)
back	access the last element (public member function)
size	returns the number of elements (public member function)
operator[]	access specified element (public member function)
span (C++20)	a non-owning view over a contiguous sequence of objects (class template)
data (C++17)	obtains the pointer to the underlying array (function template)