Example
An std::map takes (key, value) pairs as input.
Consider the following example of std::map initialization:
std::map < std::string, int > ranking { std::make_pair("stackoverflow", 2),
std::make_pair("docs-beta", 1) };
In an std::map , elements can be inserted as follows:
ranking["stackoverflow"]=2;
ranking["docs-beta"]=1;
In the above example, if the key stackoverflow is already present, its value will be updated to 2. If it isn't already present, a new entry will be created.
In an std::map, elements can be accessed directly by giving the key as an index:
std::cout << ranking[ "stackoverflow" ] << std::endl;
Note that using the operator[] on the map will actually insert a new value with the queried key into the map. This means that you cannot use it on a const std::map, even if the key is already stored in the map. To prevent this insertion, check if the element exists (for example by using find()) or use at() as described below.
C++11
Elements of a std::map can be accessed with at():
std::cout << ranking.at("stackoverflow") << std::endl;
Note that at() will throw an std::out_of_range exception if the container does not contain the requested element.
In both containers std::map and std::multimap, elements can be accessed using iterators:
C++11
// Example using begin()
std::multimap < int, std::string > mmp { std::make_pair(2, "stackoverflow"),
std::make_pair(1, "docs-beta"),
std::make_pair(2, "stackexchange") };
auto it = mmp.begin();
std::cout << it->first << " : " << it->second << std::endl; // Output: "1 : docs-beta"
it++;
std::cout << it->first << " : " << it->second << std::endl; // Output: "2 : stackoverflow"
it++;
std::cout << it->first << " : " << it->second << std::endl; // Output: "2 : stackexchange"
// Example using rbegin()
std::map < int, std::string > mp { std::make_pair(2, "stackoverflow"),
std::make_pair(1, "docs-beta"),
std::make_pair(2, "stackexchange") };
auto it2 = mp.rbegin();
std::cout << it2->first << " : " << it2->second << std::endl; // Output: "2 : stackoverflow"
it2++;
std::cout << it2->first << " : " << it2->second << std::endl; // Output: "1 : docs-beta"
