I have a question with hash_map
and map
in C++. I understand that map
is in STL, but hash_map
is not a standard. What's the difference between the two?
They are implemented in very different ways.
hash_map
(unordered_map
in TR1 and Boost; use those instead) use a hash table where the key is hashed to a slot in the table and the value is stored in a list tied to that key.
map
is implemented as a balanced binary search tree (usually a red/black tree).
An unordered_map
should give slightly better performance for accessing known elements of the collection, but a map
will have additional useful characteristics (e.g. it is stored in sorted order, which allows traversal from start to finish). unordered_map
will be faster on insert and delete than a map
.