Why is a C++ Vector called a Vector?

Question

The question\'s pretty self-explanatory really. I know vaguely about vectors in maths, but I don\'t really see the link to C++ vectors.

Answer 1

To complement the excellent response from @MarkRuzon:

Alex said that to give a name to what is now called std::vector he observed the name that Scheme and Common Lisp ​​had given to similar data structures.

Later he admits he was wrong because C++ vector has nothing to do with the vectors in mathematics.

He also says that he introduced an error of a community of 50 people to a community of 5 million people, so the error is likely to remain forever.

Answer 2

Also if you make it store integers or floating points it does make an excellent type for storing N dimensional vectors. After all all a vector is, is a list of numbers kept in a specific order.

Answer 3

No idea about the real reason, but C++ calling it a vector instead of an array, reduces confusion between the C and C++ structures, although they fulfill the same roles.

Answer 4

Mathematical definition of a vector is a member of the set Sn, which is an ordered sequence of values in a specific set (S). This is what a C++ vector stores.