Book Image

Mastering the C++17 STL

By : Arthur O'Dwyer
Book Image

Mastering the C++17 STL

By: Arthur O'Dwyer

Overview of this book

Modern C++ has come a long way since 2011. The latest update, C++17, has just been ratified and several implementations are on the way. This book is your guide to the C++ standard library, including the very latest C++17 features. The book starts by exploring the C++ Standard Template Library in depth. You will learn the key differences between classical polymorphism and generic programming, the foundation of the STL. You will also learn how to use the various algorithms and containers in the STL to suit your programming needs. The next module delves into the tools of modern C++. Here you will learn about algebraic types such as std::optional, vocabulary types such as std::function, smart pointers, and synchronization primitives such as std::atomic and std::mutex. In the final module, you will learn about C++'s support for regular expressions and file I/O. By the end of the book you will be proficient in using the C++17 standard library to implement real programs, and you'll have gained a solid understanding of the library's own internals.
Table of Contents (13 chapters)

Reference counting with std::shared_ptr<T>

Having completely solved the problem of memory leaks, we now tackle the problem of use-after-free bugs. The essential problem to be solved here is unclear ownership--or rather shared ownership--of a given resource or chunk of memory. This chunk of memory might have several people looking at it at different times, maybe from different data structures or from different threads, and we want to make sure that all these stakeholders are involved in the decision about when to free it. The ownership of the underlying chunk of memory should be shared.

For this, the standard has provided std::shared_ptr<T>. Its interface appears very similar to std::unique_ptr<T>; all of the differences are hidden under the hood, in the implementations of the special member functions.

std::shared_ptr<T> provides an approach to memory management...