# Extra Clang Tools 18.1.8 documentation

## clang-tidy - bugprone-standalone-empty

# bugprone-standalone-empty

Warns when `empty()` is used on a range and the result is ignored. Suggests `clear()` if it is an existing member function.

The `empty()` method on several common ranges returns a Boolean indicating whether or not the range is empty, but is often mistakenly interpreted as a way to clear the contents of a range. Some ranges offer a `clear()` method for this purpose. This check warns when a call to empty returns a result that is ignored, and suggests replacing it with a call to `clear()` if it is available as a member function of the range.

For example, the following code could be used to indicate whether a range is empty or not, but the result is ignored:

    std::vector<int> v;
    ...
    v.empty();

A call to `clear()` would appropriately clear the contents of the range:

    std::vector<int> v;
    ...
    v.clear();

Limitations:

- Doesn’t warn if `empty()` is defined and used with the ignore result in the class template definition (for example in the library implementation). These error cases can be caught with `[[nodiscard]]` attribute.