Is there a max array length limit in C++?

Question

Is there a max length for an array in C++?

Is it a C++ limit or does it depend on my machine? Is it tweakable? Does it depend on the type the array is made of?

Answer 1

As has already been pointed out, array size is limited by your hardware and your OS (man ulimit). Your software though, may only be limited by your creativity. For example, can you store your "array" on disk? Do you really need long long ints? Do you really need a dense array? Do you even need an array at all?

One simple solution would be to use 64 bit Linux. Even if you do not physically have enough ram for your array, the OS will allow you to allocate memory as if you do since the virtual memory available to your process is likely much larger than the physical memory. If you really need to access everything in the array, this amounts to storing it on disk. Depending on your access patterns, there may be more efficient ways of doing this (ie: using mmap(), or simply storing the data sequentially in a file (in which case 32 bit Linux would suffice)).