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Overview

Simplified (since C++98)

template< class Key, /* ... */ >
class set;

Detailed

Regular (since C++98)

template<
    class Key,
    class Compare = std::less<Key>,
    class Allocator = std::allocator<Key>
>
class set;

Polymorphic (since C++17)

namespace pmr {
    template< class Key, class Compare = std::less<Key> >
    using set = std::set<Key, Compare, std::pmr::polymorphic_allocator<Key>>;
}

The std::set is a sorted associative container that stores unique objects, by default ordered ascending.

Technical details

Technical definition of a set

std::set is an associative container that contains a sorted set of unique objects of type Key. Sorting is done using the key comparison function Compare. Search, removal, and insertion operations have logarithmic complexity.

Sets are usually implemented as red-black trees.

Everywhere the standard library uses the Compare requirements, uniqueness is determined by using the equivalence relation. In imprecise terms, two objects a and b are considered equivalent if neither compares less than the other: !comp(a, b) && !comp(b, a).

std::set meets the requirements of Container, AllocatorAwareContainer, AssociativeContainer and ReversibleContainer.

std::set

Defined in

set

Template parameters

pub	Key	The type of stored keys.
pub	Compare	A comparator type satisfying Compare.
pub	Allocator	An allocator type responsible for allocating and deallocating memory. Must satisfy Allocator.

Type names

pub	key_type	Key
pub	value_type	Key
pub	size_type	Unsigned integer type (usually std::size_t ).
pub	difference_type	Signed integer type (usually std::ptrdiff_t ).
pub	key_compare	Compare
pub	value_compare	Compare
pub	allocator_type	Allocator
pub	reference	value_type&
pub	const_reference	const value_type&
pub	pointer	Allocator::pointer(until C++11) std::allocator_traits<Allocator>::pointer(since C++11)
pub	const_pointer	Allocator::const_pointer(until C++11) std::allocator_traits<Allocator>::const_pointer(since C++11)
pub	iterator ❗	Constant LegacyBidirectionalIterator to value_type
pub	const_iterator ❗	LegacyBidirectionalIterator to const value_type
pub	reverse_iterator	std::reverse_iterator<iterator>
pub	const_reverse_iterator	std::reverse_iterator<const_iterator>
pub	node_type (since C++17)	A specialization of node handle representing a container node.
pub	insert_return_type (since C++17)	Type describing the result of inserting a node_type, a specialization of template < class Iter, class NodeType > struct /* unspecified */ { Iter position; bool inserted; NodeType node; }; instantiated with template arguments iterator and node_type.

Set's iterators

iterator is said to be constant because it is impossible to modify the values it's pointing to. This is because modyfing a value the iterator is pointing to could possibly invalidate the internal structure of the set, which could then lead to all kinds of incorrect and unexpected behaviours.

The member type aliases iterator and const_iterator may be the same. This is left entirely to the implementation. This means that any overloaded functions/specializations differing only in the iterator types may be incorrect and may lead to ODR violation.

Member functions

pub	(constructor)	Constructs a new set.
pub	(destructor)	Destructs a set.
pub	operator=	Assigns one set to another.
pub	get_allocator	Returns an associated allocator.

Iterators

pub	begin cbegin (since C++11)	Returns an iterator to the beginning.
pub	end cend (since C++11)	Returns an iterator to the end.
pub	rbegin crbegin (since C++11)	Returns a reverse iterator to the beginning.
pub	rend crend (since C++11)	Returns a reverse iterator to the end.

Capacity

pub	empty	Returns true if a set is empty, otherwise false.
pub	size	Returns the number of elements in a set.
pub	max_size	Returns the maximum possible number of elements.

Modifiers

pub	clear	Clears the contents of a set.
pub	insert	Inserts elements or nodes (extracted with .extract()) (since C++17).
pub	emplace (since C++11)	Constructs a new element in place.
pub	emplace_hint (since C++11)	Constructs elements in-place using a hint (iterator).
pub	erase	Erases elements.
pub	swap	Swaps two sets.
pub	extract (since C++17)	Extracts nodes from a set (can be later inserted somewhere else).
pub	merge (since C++17)	Merges two sets together.

Lookup

pub	count	Returns the number of elements matching a specific key.
pub	find	Searches for an element and returns an iterator to it, or an end iterator if not found.
pub	contains (since C++20)	Returns true if an element is inside a set, otherwise false.
pub	equal_range	Returns a range of elements matching a specific key.
pub	lower_bound	Returns an iterator to the first element not less than the given key.
pub	upper_bound	Returns an iterator to the first element greater than the given key.

Observers

pub	key_comp	Returns an internal function object that compares keys.
pub	value_comp	Returns an internal function object that compares keys in objects of type value_type.

Non-member functions

pub	operator== operator!= (removed in C++20) operator< (removed in C++20) operator> (removed in C++20) operator<= (removed in C++20) operator>= (removed in C++20) operator<=> (since C++20)	Lexicographically compares the values in a set.
pub	std::swap (std::set)	An overload for a std::swap algorithm.
pub	std::erase_if (std::set) (since C++20)	Overload for a std::erase_if algorithm.

Deduction guides (since C++17)

Click to expand

Deduction guides

// (1)
template<class InputIt, class Alloc>
set(InputIt, InputIt, Alloc)
  -> set<typename std::iterator_traits<InputIt>::value_type,
           std::less<typename std::iterator_traits<InputIt>::value_type>, Alloc>;

// (2)
template<class InputIt,
         class Comp = std::less<typename std::iterator_traits<InputIt>::value_type>,
         class Alloc = std::allocator<typename std::iterator_traits<InputIt>::value_type>>
set(InputIt, InputIt, Comp = Comp(), Alloc = Alloc())
  -> set<typename std::iterator_traits<InputIt>::value_type, Comp, Alloc>;

(1) and (2) allow for deduction from an iterator range

// (3)
template<class Key, class Comp = std::less<Key>, class Alloc = std::allocator<Key>>
set(std::initializer_list<Key>, Comp = Comp(), Alloc = Alloc())
  -> set<Key, Comp, Alloc>;

// (4)
template<class Key, class Alloc>
set(std::initializer_list<Key>, Alloc)
  -> set<Key, std::less<Key>, Alloc>;

(3) and (4) allow for deduction from a std::initializer_list

Overload resolution

In order for any of the deduction guides to participate in overload resolution, the folllowing requirements must be met:

• InputIt satisfies LegacyInputIterator
• Alloc satisfies Allocator
• Comp doesn't satisfy Allocator

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The extent to which the library determines that a type does not satisfy LegacyInputIterator is unspecified, except that as a minimum:

• Integral types do not qualify as input iterators.

Likewise, the extent to which it determines that a type does not satisfy Allocator is unspecified, except that as a minimum:

• The member type Alloc::value_type must exist.
• The expression std::declval<Alloc&>().allocate(std::size_t{}) must be well-formed when treated as an unevaluated operand.

More examples

Basic manipulation

#include <iostream>
#include <set>

int main() {
  std::set<int> unique_item_id = {3, 3, 1};

  unique_item_id.insert(12);
  unique_item_id.insert(12);

  std::cout << "Unique items id's:\n";
  for (const auto elem : unique_item_id)
    std::cout << elem << '\n';

  return 0;
}

Result

Unique items id's:
1
3
12

#include <iostream>
#include <set>

int main() {
  std::set<int> numbers = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9};

  for (auto i = numbers.begin(); i != numbers.end();) {
    if (*i % 2 == 0)
      i = numbers.erase(i);
    else
      ++i;
  }

  for (const auto i : numbers)
    std::cout << i << std::endl;

  return 0;
}

Result

1
3
5
7
9

#include <iostream>
#include <set>

int main() {
  std::set<char> letters = {'A', 'C', 'B'};
  std::set<char> letters2 = {'E', 'D', 'C'};

  letters.merge(letters2);

  for (const auto i : letters)
    std::cout << i << ' ';

  std::cout << '\n';

  for (const auto i : letters2)
    std::cout << i << ' ';

  return 0;
}

Result

A B C D E
C