size_type max_size() const noexcept;
Returns the maximum number of elements a JSON value is able to hold due to system or library implementation limitations, i.e. std::distance(begin(), end()) for the JSON value.
The return value depends on the different types and is defined as follows:
| Value type | return value |
|---|---|
| null | 0 (same as size()) |
| boolean | 1 (same as size()) |
| string | 1 (same as size()) |
| number | 1 (same as size()) |
| binary | 1 (same as size()) |
| object | result of function object_t::max_size() |
| array | result of function array_t::max_size() |
No-throw guarantee: this function never throws exceptions.
Constant, as long as array_t and object_t satisfy the Container concept; that is, their max_size() functions have constant complexity.
This function does not return the maximal length of a string stored as JSON value -- it returns the maximal number of string elements the JSON value can store which is 1.
??? example
The following code calls `max_size()` on the different value types.
```cpp
--8<-- "examples/max_size.cpp"
```
Output:
```json
--8<-- "examples/max_size.output"
```
Note the output is platform-dependent.
1 for binary types in version 3.8.0.