# std::set_difference

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< cpp‎ | algorithm

Defined in header `<algorithm>` |  |
| (1) |
template< class InputIt1, class InputIt2, class OutputIt > OutputIt set_difference( InputIt1 first1, InputIt1 last1, InputIt2 first2, InputIt2 last2, OutputIt d_first ); |  | (until C++20)
template< class InputIt1, class InputIt2, class OutputIt > constexpr OutputIt set_difference( InputIt1 first1, InputIt1 last1, InputIt2 first2, InputIt2 last2, OutputIt d_first ); |  | (since C++20)
template< class ExecutionPolicy, class ForwardIt1, class ForwardIt2, class ForwardIt3 > ForwardIt3 set_difference( ExecutionPolicy&& policy, ForwardIt1 first1, ForwardIt1 last1, ForwardIt2 first2, ForwardIt2 last2, ForwardIt3 d_first ); | (2) | (since C++17)
| (3) |
template< class InputIt1, class InputIt2, class OutputIt, class Compare > OutputIt set_difference( InputIt1 first1, InputIt1 last1, InputIt2 first2, InputIt2 last2, OutputIt d_first, Compare comp ); |  | (until C++20)
template< class InputIt1, class InputIt2, class OutputIt, class Compare > constexpr OutputIt set_difference( InputIt1 first1, InputIt1 last1, InputIt2 first2, InputIt2 last2, OutputIt d_first, Compare comp ); |  | (since C++20)
template< class ExecutionPolicy, class ForwardIt1, class ForwardIt2, class ForwardIt3, class Compare > ForwardIt3 set_difference( ExecutionPolicy&& policy, ForwardIt1 first1, ForwardIt1 last1, ForwardIt2 first2, ForwardIt2 last2, ForwardIt3 d_first, Compare comp ); | (4) | (since C++17)

Copies the elements from the sorted range `[first1, last1)` which are not found in the sorted range `[first2, last2)` to the range beginning at `d_first`.

The resulting range is also sorted. Equivalent elements are treated individually, that is, if some element is found `m` times in `[first1, last1)` and `n` times in `[first2, last2)`, it will be copied to `d_first` exactly std::max(m-n, 0) times. The resulting range cannot overlap with either of the input ranges.

1) Elements are compared using `operator<` and the ranges must be sorted with respect to the same.
3) Elements are compared using the given binary comparison function `comp` and the ranges must be sorted with respect to the same.
2,4) Same as (1,3), but executed according to `policy`. This overload only participates in overload resolution if std::is_execution_policy_v<std::decay_t<ExecutionPolicy>> is true

### Parameters

first1, last1 | - | the range of elements to examine
first2, last2 | - | the range of elements to search for
policy | - | the execution policy to use. See execution policy for details.

comp

-

comparison function object (i.e. an object that satisfies the requirements of Compare) which returns ​true if the first argument is less than (i.e. is ordered before) the second.

The signature of the comparison function should be equivalent to the following:

bool cmp(const Type1 &a, const Type2 &b);

While the signature does not need to have const &, the function must not modify the objects passed to it and must be able to accept all values of type (possibly const) `Type1` and `Type2` regardless of value category (thus, Type1 & is not allowed, nor is Type1 unless for `Type1` a move is equivalent to a copy (since C++11)).
The types Type1 and Type2 must be such that objects of types InputIt1 and InputIt2 can be dereferenced and then implicitly converted to both Type1 and Type2. ​

Type requirements
- `InputIt1, InputIt2` must meet the requirements of LegacyInputIterator.
- `OutputIt` must meet the requirements of LegacyOutputIterator.
- `ForwardIt1, ForwardIt2, ForwardIt3` must meet the requirements of LegacyForwardIterator.

### Return value

Iterator past the end of the constructed range.

### Complexity

At most 2·(N1+N2-1) comparisons, where N1 = std::distance(first1, last1) and N2 = std::distance(first2, last2).

### Exceptions

The overloads with a template parameter named `ExecutionPolicy` report errors as follows:

- If execution of a function invoked as part of the algorithm throws an exception and `ExecutionPolicy` is one of the standard policies, std::terminate is called. For any other `ExecutionPolicy`, the behavior is implementation-defined.
- If the algorithm fails to allocate memory, std::bad_alloc is thrown.

### Possible implementation

First version

    template<class InputIt1, class InputIt2, class OutputIt>
    OutputIt set_difference(InputIt1 first1, InputIt1 last1,
                            InputIt2 first2, InputIt2 last2,
                            OutputIt d_first)
    {
        while (first1 != last1) {
            if (first2 == last2) return std::copy(first1, last1, d_first);

            if (*first1 < *first2) {
                *d_first++ = *first1++;
            } else {
                if (! (*first2 < *first1)) {
                    ++first1;
                }
                ++first2;
            }
        }
        return d_first;
    }

Second version

    template<class InputIt1, class InputIt2,
             class OutputIt, class Compare>
    OutputIt set_difference( InputIt1 first1, InputIt1 last1,
                             InputIt2 first2, InputIt2 last2,
                             OutputIt d_first, Compare comp)
    {
        while (first1 != last1) {
            if (first2 == last2) return std::copy(first1, last1, d_first);

            if (comp(*first1, *first2)) {
                *d_first++ = *first1++;
            } else {
                if (!comp(*first2, *first1)) {
                    ++first1;
                }
                ++first2;
            }
        }
        return d_first;
    }

### Example

Run this code

    #include <iostream>
    #include <algorithm>
    #include <vector>
    #include <iterator>

    int main() {
        std::vector<int> v1 {1, 2, 5, 5, 5, 9};
        std::vector<int> v2 {2, 5, 7};
        std::vector<int> diff;

        std::set_difference(v1.begin(), v1.end(), v2.begin(), v2.end(),
                            std::inserter(diff, diff.begin()));

        for (auto i : v1) std::cout << i << ' ';
        std::cout << "minus ";
        for (auto i : v2) std::cout << i << ' ';
        std::cout << "is: ";

        for (auto i : diff) std::cout << i << ' ';
        std::cout << '\n';
    }

Output:

    1 2 5 5 5 9 minus 2 5 7 is: 1 5 5 9

### See also

includes | returns true if one set is a subset of another (function template)
set_symmetric_difference | computes the symmetric difference between two sets (function template)

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