std::allocator

Defined in header `<memory>`
template< class T > struct allocator;	(1)
template<> struct allocator<void>;	(2)	(deprecated in C++17) (removed in C++20)

The std::allocator class template is the default Allocator used by all standard library containers if no user-specified allocator is provided. The default allocator is stateless, that is, all instances of the given allocator are interchangeable, compare equal and can deallocate memory allocated by any other instance of the same allocator type.

The explicit specialization for void lacks the member typedefs reference, const_reference, size_type and difference_type. This specialization declares no member functions.

(until C++20)

All custom allocators also must be stateless.	(until C++11)
Custom allocators may contain state. Each container or another allocator-aware object stores an instance of the supplied allocator and controls allocator replacement through std::allocator_traits.	(since C++11)
The default allocator satisfies allocator completeness requirements.	(since C++17)

Member types

Type	Definition
`value_type`	T
`pointer` (deprecated in C++17)(removed in C++20)	T*
`const_pointer` (deprecated in C++17)(removed in C++20)	const T*
`reference` (deprecated in C++17)(removed in C++20)	T&
`const_reference` (deprecated in C++17)(removed in C++20)	const T&
`size_type`	std::size_t
`difference_type`	std::ptrdiff_t
`propagate_on_container_move_assignment`(C++14)	std::true_type
`rebind` (deprecated in C++17)(removed in C++20)	template< class U > struct rebind { typedef allocator<U> other; };
`is_always_equal`(C++17)	std::true_type

Member functions

(constructor)	creates a new allocator instance (public member function)
(destructor)	destructs an allocator instance (public member function)
address (deprecated in C++17)(removed in C++20)	obtains the address of an object, even if operator& is overloaded (public member function)
allocate	allocates uninitialized storage (public member function)
deallocate	deallocates storage (public member function)
max_size (deprecated in C++17)(removed in C++20)	returns the largest supported allocation size (public member function)
construct (deprecated in C++17)(removed in C++20)	constructs an object in allocated storage (public member function)
destroy (deprecated in C++17)(removed in C++20)	destructs an object in allocated storage (public member function)

Non-member functions

operator==operator!=

compares two allocator instances
(public member function)

Notes

The member template class rebind provides a way to obtain an allocator for a different type. For example,

`std::list<T, A>` allocates nodes of some internal type `Node<T>`, using the allocator A::rebind<Node<T>>::other	(until C++11)
`std::list<T, A>` allocates nodes of some internal type `Node<T>`, using the allocator std::allocator_traits<A>::rebind_alloc<Node<T>>, which is implemented in terms of A::rebind<Node<T>>::other if A is an `std::allocator`	(since C++11)

Example

Run this code

#include <memory>
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
 
int main()
{
    std::allocator<int> a1;   // default allocator for ints
    int* a = a1.allocate(1);  // space for one int
    a1.construct(a, 7);       // construct the int
    std::cout << a[0] << '\n';
    a1.deallocate(a, 1);      // deallocate space for one int
 
    // default allocator for strings
    std::allocator<std::string> a2;
 
    // same, but obtained by rebinding from the type of a1
    decltype(a1)::rebind<std::string>::other a2_1;
 
    // same, but obtained by rebinding from the type of a1 via allocator_traits
    std::allocator_traits<decltype(a1)>::rebind_alloc<std::string> a2_2;
 
    std::string* s = a2.allocate(2); // space for 2 strings
 
    a2.construct(s, "foo");
    a2.construct(s + 1, "bar");
 
    std::cout << s[0] << ' ' << s[1] << '\n';
 
    a2.destroy(s);
    a2.destroy(s + 1);
    a2.deallocate(s, 2);
}

Output:

7
foo bar

Language
Standard Library Headers
Freestanding and hosted implementations
Named requirements
Language support library
Concepts library (C++20)
Diagnostics library
Utilities library
Strings library
Containers library
Iterators library
Ranges library (C++20)
Algorithms library
Numerics library
Input/output library
Localizations library
Regular expressions library (C++11)
Atomic operations library (C++11)
Thread support library (C++11)
Filesystem library (C++17)
Technical Specifications

Member functions
allocator::allocator
allocator::~allocator
allocator::address (until C++20)
allocator::allocate
allocator::deallocate
allocator::max_size (until C++20)
allocator::construct (until C++20)
allocator::destroy (until C++20)
Non-member functions
operator==operator!=