Re: References take more menory than pointers?
"Jeffrey Schwab" <jeff@schwabcenter.com> wrote in message
news:kqE6h.25801$nG1.14703@tornado.southeast.rr.com
I think Dinkumware std::string uses "small string optimization".
Strings less than 16 bytes are stored in the string object istelf,
without invoking the heap.
That shouldn't have anything to do with it. The sizeof operator
doesn't know or care how much heap memory the string allocates.
You seem to misunderstand. Under small string optimization, there is a
small amount of space reserved _inside_ std::string object itself, to
avoid any heap allocations for short strings. The class looks something
like this:
class string {
union {
char* ptr_to_long_string;
char short_string[16];
};
};
Of course this affects the size of std::string as reported by sizeof, as
compared to a different implementation that does not use internal buffer
and only stores the pointer.
--
With best wishes,
Igor Tandetnik
With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. However, this is not
necessarily a good idea. It is hard to be sure where they are going to
land, and it could be dangerous sitting under them as they fly
overhead. -- RFC 1925