c++ - max_size返回一个大于或等于该类型容器所能容纳的最大元素数的值？

Question

这是c++ primer中讲到容器大小一节时说的一句话，什么叫大于最大值？感觉错的太离谱了吧
英文版如下：
and max_size returns a number that is greater than or equal to the number of elements a container of that type can contain.

Answer 1

Checked the DevDocs, it is defined as follows on the std::vector::max_size entry max_size:

Returns the maximum number of elements the container is able to hold due to system or library implementation limitations,...

However, Notes mentioned:

This value is typically equal to std::numeric_limits<size_type>::max(), and reflects the theoretical limit on the size of the container. At runtime, the size of the container may be limited to a value smaller than max_size() by the amount of RAM available.

So although the software max_size is only limited by the operating system or library implementation, the number of elements that the runtime container can hold may be smaller than max_size.<🎜 due to the small memory space on the hardware. >