std::optional
Defined in header <optional>
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template< class T > class optional; |
(since C++17) | |
The class template std::optional
manages an optional contained value, i.e. a value that may or may not be present.
A common use case for optional
is the return value of a function that may fail. As opposed to other approaches, such as std::pair<T,bool>, optional
handles expensive-to-construct objects well and is more readable, as the intent is expressed explicitly.
Any instance of optional<T>
at any given point in time either contains a value or does not contain a value.
If an optional<T>
contains a value, the value is guaranteed to be allocated as part of the optional
object footprint, i.e. no dynamic memory allocation ever takes place. Thus, an optional
object models an object, not a pointer, even though the operator*() and operator->() are defined.
When an object of type optional<T> is contextually converted to bool, the conversion returns true if the object contains a value and false if it does not contain a value.
The optional
object contains a value in the following conditions:
- The object is initialized with a value of type
T
- The object is assigned from another
optional
that contains a value.
The object does not contain a value in the following conditions:
- The object is default-initialized.
- The object is initialized with a value of std::nullopt_t or an
optional
object that does not contain a value. - The object is assigned from a value of std::nullopt_t or from an
optional
that does not contain a value
There are no optional references, a program is ill-formed if it instantiates optional with a reference type.
Template parameters
T | - | the type of the value to manage initialization state for. The type must meet the requirements of Destructible
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Member types
Member type | Definition |
value_type
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T
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Member functions
constructs the optional object (public member function) | |
destroys the contained value, if there is one (public member function) | |
assigns contents (public member function) | |
Observers | |
accesses the contained value (public member function) | |
checks whether the object contains a value (public member function) | |
returns the contained value (public member function) | |
returns the contained value if available, another value otherwise (public member function) | |
Modifiers | |
exchanges the contents (public member function) | |
destroys any contained value (public member function) | |
constructs the contained value in-place (public member function) |
Non-member functions
compares optional objects (function template) | |
(C++17) |
creates an optional object (function template) |
(C++17) |
specializes the std::swap algorithm (function) |
Helper classes
(C++17) |
specializes the std::hash algorithm (class template specialization) |
(C++17) |
indicator of optional type with uninitialized state (class) |
(C++17) |
exception indicating checked access to an optional that doesn't contain a value (class) |
Helpers
(C++17) |
an object of type nullopt_t (constant) |
in-place construction tag (class template) |
Example
#include <string> #include <iostream> #include <optional> // optional can be used as the return type of a factory that may fail std::optional<std::string> create(bool b) { if(b) return "Godzilla"; else return {}; } int main() { std::cout << "create(false) returned " << create(false).value_or("empty") << '\n'; // optional-returning factory functions are usable as conditions of while and if if(auto str = create(true)) { std::cout << "create(true) returned " << *str << '\n'; } }
Output:
create(false) returned empty create(true) returned Godzilla