| Home | Libraries | People | FAQ | More

## Circular_buffer example

Here is a simple example to introduce the class `circular_buffer`.

For all examples, we need this include:

    #include <boost/circular_buffer.hpp>

This example shows contruction, inserting elements, overwriting and popping.

    // Create a circular buffer with a capacity for 3 integers.
    boost::circular_buffer<int> cb(3);

    // Insert threee elements into the buffer.
    cb.push_back(1);
    cb.push_back(2);
    cb.push_back(3);

    int a = cb[0];  // a == 1
    int b = cb[1];  // b == 2
    int c = cb[2];  // c == 3

    // The buffer is full now, so pushing subsequent
    // elements will overwrite the front-most elements.

    cb.push_back(4);  // Overwrite 1 with 4.
    cb.push_back(5);  // Overwrite 2 with 5.

    // The buffer now contains 3, 4 and 5.
    a = cb[0];  // a == 3
    b = cb[1];  // b == 4
    c = cb[2];  // c == 5

    // Elements can be popped from either the front or the back.
    cb.pop_back();  // 5 is removed.
    cb.pop_front(); // 3 is removed.

    // Leaving only one element with value = 4.
    int d = cb[0];  // d == 4

You can see the full example code at circular_buffer_example.cpp.

The full annotated description is in the C++ Reference section.