C++ std::variant Basic std::variant use
Example
This creates a variant (a tagged union) that can store either an int or a string.
std::variant< int, std::string > var;
We can store one of either type in it:
var = "hello"s;
And we can access the contents via std::visit:
// Prints "hello\n":
visit( [](auto&& e) {
std::cout << e << '\n';
}, var );
by passing in a polymorphic lambda or similar function object.
If we are certain we know what type it is, we can get it:
auto str = std::get<std::string>(var);
but this will throw if we get it wrong. get_if:
auto* str = std::get_if<std::string>(&var);
returns nullptr if you guess wrong.
Variants guarantee no dynamic memory allocation (other than which is allocated by their contained types). Only one of the types in a variant is stored there, and in rare cases (involving exceptions while assigning and no safe way to back out) the variant can become empty.
Variants let you store multiple value types in one variable safely and efficiently. They are basically smart, type-safe unions.
