C++ Class that works on array of bytes (like string on chars)

Question

Is there any c++ class that can be used like a string. Which has all stuff needed like comparators and etc? I want to have something like string class that works on array of bytes instead of chars. I'm just asking because I don't want to write again something that already exists. I will use this class in std::map and etc.

Answer 1

That's exactly what an std::string is. A char is essentially a byte . It takes up one byte of space and it accepts all logical and bitwise operators (bit shifting: << , >> ; logical comparisons: & , | ; etc.).

If for some reason you need something like an std::string but for a different datatype, simply use std::basic_string<DATATYPE> . In the STL, string itself is a typedef for basic_string<char> .

Answer 2

There is no such thing as byte in c++ . You can use std::vector with unsigned char which has similar effect as byte in Java for example.

typedef unsigned char BYTE;
typedef std::vector<BYTE> ByteString;