The std::merge Algorithm in C++
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Use
std::mergeAlgorithm to Merge Contents of Two Sorted Ranges in C++ -
Use the
std::set_unionAlgorithm to Merge Contents of Two Sorted Ranges in C++
This article will explain how to use the std::merge STL algorithm in C++.
Use std::merge Algorithm to Merge Contents of Two Sorted Ranges in C++
The std::merge function is provided under the STL algorithms header - <algorithm>. It can be utilized to merge two ranges that have been sorted previously. Range iterators should satisfy LegacyInputIterator requirements.
In the following example code, we create two vector containers with random integer values and merge them into the third vector using the std::merge algorithm. We invoke the std::sort algorithm on v1 and v2 containers before merging. Random integers are generated with STL facilities which is the recommended way for high-quality randomness, and also use std::generate algorithm with lambda expression instead of a regular loop to store the values into vectors.
#include <algorithm>
#include <iomanip>
#include <iostream>
#include <random>
#include <vector>
using std::cin;
using std::cout;
using std::endl;
using std::vector;
template <typename T>
void printRange(std::vector<T> v) {
for (const auto &item : v) {
cout << std::setw(2) << item << ", ";
}
cout << endl;
}
int main() {
std::random_device rd;
std::mt19937 mt(rd());
std::uniform_int_distribution<> dis(0, 10);
std::vector<int> v1(5), v2(5);
std::generate(v1.begin(), v1.end(), [&dis, &mt] { return dis(mt); });
std::generate(v2.begin(), v2.end(), [&dis, &mt] { return dis(mt); });
std::sort(v1.begin(), v1.end());
std::sort(v2.begin(), v2.end());
cout << "v1: ";
printRange(v1);
cout << "v2: ";
printRange(v2);
std::vector<int> v3(v1.size() + v2.size());
std::merge(v1.begin(), v1.end(), v2.begin(), v2.end(), v3.begin());
cout << "v3: ";
printRange(v3);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
Output:
v1: 2, 2, 4, 9, 10,
v2: 0, 2, 4, 4, 9,
v3: 0, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 4, 9, 9, 10,
The previous code initializes a destination vector with the sum of vector sizes so that it can store the contents of v1 and v2. Alternatively, we could use std::back_inserter as the fifth parameter of the algorithm to grow the vector dynamically. There is no functional difference between these two methods when std::merge algorithm is used, but we’ll see that other similar algorithms may need a specific version.
#include <algorithm>
#include <iomanip>
#include <iostream>
#include <random>
#include <vector>
using std::cin;
using std::cout;
using std::endl;
using std::vector;
template <typename T>
void printRange(std::vector<T> v) {
for (const auto &item : v) {
cout << std::setw(2) << item << ", ";
}
cout << endl;
}
int main() {
std::random_device rd;
std::mt19937 mt(rd());
std::uniform_int_distribution<> dis(0, 10);
std::vector<int> v1(5), v2(5);
std::generate(v1.begin(), v1.end(), [&dis, &mt] { return dis(mt); });
std::generate(v2.begin(), v2.end(), [&dis, &mt] { return dis(mt); });
std::sort(v1.begin(), v1.end());
std::sort(v2.begin(), v2.end());
cout << "v1: ";
printRange(v1);
cout << "v2: ";
printRange(v2);
std::vector<int> v3;
std::merge(v1.begin(), v1.end(), v2.begin(), v2.end(),
std::back_inserter(v3));
cout << "v3: ";
printRange(v3);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
v1: 2, 2, 4, 9, 10,
v2: 0, 2, 4, 4, 9,
v3: 0, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 4, 9, 9, 10,
Use the std::set_union Algorithm to Merge Contents of Two Sorted Ranges in C++
std::merge constructs an output range that includes exactly std::distance(first1, last1) + std::distance(first2, last2) number of elements. Although, the std::set_union algorithm, which has a similar function, checks if an element is found in both ranges and if so, all element instances are copied from the first range, but only std::max(n-m, 0) instances from the second range, where m is the number of instances in the first range and n is the number of instances in the second.
The following example demonstrates the same code snippet with the std::set_union algorithm.
#include <iostream>
#include <algorithm>
#include <vector>
#include <random>
#include <iomanip>
using std::cout; using std::cin;
using std::endl; using std::vector;
template<typename T>
void printRange(std::vector<T> v) {
for (const auto &item : v) {
cout << std::setw(2) << item << ", ";
}
cout << endl;
}
int main() {
std::random_device rd;
std::mt19937 mt(rd());
std::uniform_int_distribution<> dis(0, 10);
std::vector<int> v1(5), v2(5);
std::generate(v1.begin(), v1.end(), [&dis, &mt] { return dis(mt); });
std::generate(v2.begin(), v2.end(), [&dis, &mt] { return dis(mt); });
std::sort(v1.begin(), v1.end());
std::sort(v2.begin(), v2.end());
cout << "v1: ";
printRange(v1);
cout << "v2: ";
printRange(v2);
std::vector<int> v4;
std::set_union(v1.begin(), v1.end(), v2.begin(), v2.end(), std::back_inserter(v4));
cout << "v4: ";
printRange(v4);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
v1: 2, 2, 4, 9, 10,
v2: 0, 2, 4, 4, 9,
v4: 0, 2, 2, 4, 4, 9, 10,
Founder of DelftStack.com. Jinku has worked in the robotics and automotive industries for over 8 years. He sharpened his coding skills when he needed to do the automatic testing, data collection from remote servers and report creation from the endurance test. He is from an electrical/electronics engineering background but has expanded his interest to embedded electronics, embedded programming and front-/back-end programming.
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