Speed accessing a std::vector by iterator vs by operator[]/index?

Question

Say, I have a

std::vector v;

in my code and I need to access its elements very often in the program, looping them forwa

Answer 1

As always, it depends. Normally I wouldn't think you'd see any kind of difference, but only you can determine that by profiling your code. Some compilers implement vector iterators as raw pointers, and some don't. Also, in debug builds, some compilers may be using a checked iterator, which may be slower. But in production mode it may not be any different. Profile it and see.