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copied!<p>As specified in the standard, <code>max_size()</code> is the maximum number of elements that the container can possibly store:</p> <blockquote> <p><code>distance(begin(), end())</code> for the largest possible container</p> </blockquote> <p>(C++11, [container.requirements.general], table 96)</p> <p>For <code>array</code>, which is a fixed-size container, it coincides with <code>size()</code>, while it is completely different for dynamic containers, like <code>std::vector</code> (where it will return something like the size of the virtual address space divided by the size of the element).</p> <p>You can find all the specifications of the containers in the C++ standard (which is quite expensive, but its drafts are freely available online), although it's just a normative specification which tends not to explain well the rationale behind some decisions (and is deliberately vague on the implementation of the containers).</p> <p>Still, for the difference between <code>std::array</code> and <code>std::vector</code>, it's because <code>std::array</code> is intended to store the elements without resorting to the heap, providing a same-performance alternative to a local C-style array, while <code>std::vector</code> uses the heap to store the elements, which allows much more flexibility but comes at a cost. See <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/a/4424658/214671">this answer of mine</a> for a more detailed comparison between <code>std::array</code> and <code>std::vector</code>.</p>

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