Bounds Checking Behavior of std::vector's Operator[] in Visual Studio

In Visual Studio 2008, std::vector's operator[] exhibits bounds checking behavior by default. This means that accessing an element outside the vector's defined range using operator[] will result in a std::out_of_range exception. However, this behavior is enabled in both debug and release builds by default.

The poster expressed interest in disabling bounds checking in release builds to optimize performance. Fortunately, Visual Studio 2010 plans to address this issue by disabling bounds checking in release builds while maintaining it in debug builds by default.

This change will be controlled by the macro _ITERATOR_DEBUG_LEVEL (previously _SECURE_SCL), which can be set to 0 to disable bounds checking. This allows developers to selectively enable bounds checking for operator[] in debug builds while suppressing it in release builds to improve performance.

By implementing this change, Visual Studio 2010 will provide greater flexibility in managing bounds checking behavior for std::vector's operator[]. Developers can now choose to prioritize accuracy (with bounds checking in all builds) or performance (with disabled bounds checking in release builds) based on their specific application requirements.