std::unordered_map emplace() method

since C++11

// Non const version only
template< class... Args >
std::pair<iterator,bool> emplace( Args&&... args );

Inserts a new element into the container constructed in-place with the given args if there is no element with the key in the container.

Careful use of emplace allows the new element to be constructed while avoiding unnecessary copy or move operations.

The constructor of the new element (i.e. std::pair<const Key, T>) is called with exactly the same arguments as supplied to emplace, forwarded via std::forward<Args>(args).... The element may be constructed even if there already is an element with the key in the container, in which case the newly constructed element will be destroyed immediately.

Invalidation

If rehashing occurs due to the insertion, all iterators are invalidated.

Otherwise iterators are not affected. References are not invalidated.

Rehashing occurs only if the new number of elements is greater than max_load_factor() * bucket_count().

Parameters

• args - arguments to forward to the constructor of the element

Return value

Returns a pair consisting of an iterator to the inserted element, or the already-existing element if no insertion happened, and a bool denoting whether the insertion took place (true if insertion happened, false if it did not).

Complexity

Average case, constant - O(1).
Worst case, linear in size of the container - O(size()).

Exceptions

If an exception is thrown by any operation, this function has no effect (strong exception guarantee).

Example

Main.cpp

#include <iostream>
#include <utility>
#include <string>
#include <unordered_map>
 
int main()
{
    std::unordered_map<std::string, std::string> m;
 
    // uses pair's move constructor
    m.emplace(std::make_pair(std::string("a"), std::string("a")));
 
    // uses pair's converting move constructor
    m.emplace(std::make_pair("b", "abcd"));
 
    // uses pair's template constructor
    m.emplace("d", "ddd");
 
    // uses pair's piecewise constructor
    m.emplace(std::piecewise_construct,
              std::forward_as_tuple("c"),
              std::forward_as_tuple(10, 'c'));
    // as of C++17, m.try_emplace("c", 10, 'c'); can be used
 
    for (const auto &p : m) {
        std::cout << p.first << " => " << p.second << '\n';
    }
}

Possible output

a => a
b => abcd
c => cccccccccc
d => ddd