Is there a function to copy an array in C/C++?

I am a Java programmer learning C/C++. So I know that Java has a function like System.arraycopy(); to copy an array. I was wondering if there is a function in C or C++ to copy an array. I was only able to find implementation to copy an array by using for loop, pointers,etc. Is there a function that I can use to copy an array?

Solution 1:

Since you asked for a C++ solution...

#include <algorithm>
#include <iterator>

const int arr_size = 10;
some_type src[arr_size];
// ...
some_type dest[arr_size];
std::copy(std::begin(src), std::end(src), std::begin(dest));

Solution 2:

Since C++11, you can copy arrays directly with std::array:

std::array<int,4> A = {10,20,30,40};
std::array<int,4> B = A; //copy array A into array B

Here is the documentation about std::array

Solution 3:

As others have mentioned, in C you would use memcpy. Note however that this does a raw memory copy, so if your data structures have pointer to themselves or to each other, the pointers in the copy will still point to the original objects.

In C++ you can also use memcpy if your array members are POD (that is, essentially types which you could also have used unchanged in C), but in general, memcpy will not be allowed. As others mentioned, the function to use is std::copy.

Having said that, in C++ you rarely should use raw arrays. Instead you should either use one of the standard containers (std::vector is the closest to a built-in array, and also I think the closest to Java arrays — closer than plain C++ arrays, indeed —, but std::deque or std::list may be more appropriate in some cases) or, if you use C++11, std::array which is very close to built-in arrays, but with value semantics like other C++ types. All the types I mentioned here can be copied by assignment or copy construction. Moreover, you can "cross-copy" from opne to another (and even from a built-in array) using iterator syntax.

This gives an overview of the possibilities (I assume all relevant headers have been included):

int main()
{
  // This works in C and C++
  int a[] = { 1, 2, 3, 4 };
  int b[4];
  memcpy(b, a, 4*sizeof(int)); // int is a POD

  // This is the preferred method to copy raw arrays in C++ and works with all types that can be copied:
  std::copy(a, a+4, b);

  // In C++11, you can also use this:
  std::copy(std::begin(a), std::end(a), std::begin(b));

  // use of vectors
  std::vector<int> va(a, a+4); // copies the content of a into the vector
  std::vector<int> vb = va;    // vb is a copy of va

  // this initialization is only valid in C++11:
  std::vector<int> vc { 5, 6, 7, 8 }; // note: no equal sign!

  // assign vc to vb (valid in all standardized versions of C++)
  vb = vc;

  //alternative assignment, works also if both container types are different
  vb.assign(vc.begin(), vc.end());

  std::vector<int> vd; // an *empty* vector

  // you also can use std::copy with vectors
  // Since vd is empty, we need a `back_inserter`, to create new elements:
  std::copy(va.begin(), va.end(), std::back_inserter(vd));

  // copy from array a to vector vd:
  // now vd already contains four elements, so this new copy doesn't need to
  // create elements, we just overwrite the existing ones.
  std::copy(a, a+4, vd.begin());

  // C++11 only: Define a `std::array`:
  std::array<int, 4> sa = { 9, 10, 11, 12 };

  // create a copy:
  std::array<int, 4> sb = sa;

  // assign the array:
  sb = sa;
}

Solution 4:

Use memcpy in C, std::copy in C++.