Docs: fill documentation gaps found in user questions (#5907)

* Docs: fill documentation gaps found in user questions

Add pages on class-hierarchy/smart-pointer/variant/chrono recipes, working
without exceptions, and large, streamed and partial input. Extend the FAQ
(23 entries, Known bugs first), parse error documentation (empty-input
checklist, line/column, diagnostic positions), element access, conversions,
creating values, ADL troubleshooting, memory, and build/distribution notes.
Add 14 examples with generated output. Correct the statement that parse errors
cannot be recovered from with -fno-exceptions.

The topics come from recurring questions on Stack Overflow, Reddit, Hacker
News, YouTube, and the project's GitHub discussions and issues.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

* docs: declare range-for lists in variables to keep astyle quiet

astyle reformats a braced init list placed directly in a range-for
header; declare the list first so check_amalgamation passes.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

---------

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
This commit is contained in:
Niels Lohmann authored and GitHub committed 2026-10-25 12:07:13 +01:00
1 parent cc917d7123
commit ffd4242dc2
45 files changed
+1670 -8

No files matched your search

+26 -1
View File
@@ -122,7 +122,9 @@ an adapter, since their template argument order does not match what `basic_json`
[linear in its size](../api/basic_json/basic_json.md#complexity) for the copy constructor but
[constant](../api/basic_json/basic_json.md#complexity) for the move constructor. The same applies to assigning a
large `#!cpp std::string`, `#!cpp std::vector`, or other container into a value: pass it as `#!cpp std::move(x)`
rather than `x` whenever `x` is no longer needed afterwards.
rather than `x` whenever `x` is no longer needed afterwards. Since version 3.13.0, converting an rvalue container
(`#!cpp json j = std::move(vec);`) moves the elements instead of copying them; the source is then left in a valid but
unspecified state.
- **Access without copying.** [`get<T>()`](../api/basic_json/get.md) returns a copy of the stored value converted to
`T`. When a reference or pointer to the value already stored inside the `basic_json` is enough,
[`get_ref()`](../api/basic_json/get_ref.md) and [`get_ptr()`](../api/basic_json/get_ptr.md) access it directly:
@@ -151,6 +153,29 @@ an adapter, since their template argument order does not match what `basic_json`
["reserving array capacity"](element_access/unchecked_access.md#performance-reserving-array-capacity) for the
one-line recipe.
## Memory
- **A value is small, its content is on the heap.** A `basic_json` is 16 bytes on a 64-bit platform (a type tag and a
union). Strings, arrays, objects, and binary values are allocated on the heap and owned by the value. Destroying the
value frees everything it owns.
- **Copies are deep.** After `#!cpp json b = a;`, changing `b` does not change `a`, and both own their memory. Copying a
large value therefore doubles its memory; see [Avoiding copies](#avoiding-copies). `#!cpp auto x = j["key"];` is a
copy, `#!cpp auto& x = j["key"];` is not.
- **A moved-from value is `null`.** After `#!cpp json c = std::move(a);` the value `a` is `#!json null` and owns nothing.
- **Reading does not require a tree.** If you only read the data, parse it into a [`json_document`](json_view.md)
(`#!cpp <nlohmann/json_view.hpp>`, added in version 3.13.0) instead of a `basic_json`. It stores 16 bytes per value, does not copy floating-point
numbers or strings without escape sequences out of the text, and creates no `basic_json` value except for the parts
you [`materialize()`](../api/basic_json_view/materialize.md). A document that borrows the text needs the text to
outlive it; see [Zero-copy JSON views](json_view.md).
- **Containers keep their capacity.** `clear()` and `erase()` on an array remove the elements, but the underlying
`#!cpp std::vector` keeps its allocated capacity, like `#!cpp std::vector::clear` does. To give the memory back,
assign a new value (`#!cpp j = json::array();`) or destroy the value.
- **Freed memory does not always go back to the operating system.** The library returns memory to the allocator
(`#!cpp std::allocator` by default, or the [one you configured](types/template_parameters.md)). Whether the process
size shrinks then depends on the allocator and the platform, as for any C++ program. A process that parses a large
document and drops it is not leaking if its resident size stays high; run it under a tool such as
[Valgrind](https://valgrind.org) or the sanitizers to tell a leak from retained memory.
## Serialization
[`dump()`](../api/basic_json/dump.md) with the default `#!cpp indent = -1` selects "the most compact representation"