Difference between reverse algorithm and list::reverse

Question

std::list<int> l{1,2,3};
std::reverse(l.begin(), l.end());  // 1
l.reverse(); // 2

I guess I should prefer list::reverse() . Just wondering if there is any difference between 1 and 2 in above code? eg performance?

Answer 1

The difference is that list::reverse can rearrange the list by changing the internal pointers between the nodes. std::reverse from <algorithm> will move the values (which works even if the sequence is not a standard container).

In your specific case, using an int data type, it isn't that obvious if it is a win to move two pointers instead of swapping two int s. You might want to run some benchmarks if it is important.