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)

Write-only range algorithms

We began this chapter looking at algorithms such as std::find that march through a range reading its elements in order without modification. You might be surprised to learn that the inverse operation also makes sense: there is a family of standard algorithms that march through a range modifying each element without reading it!

std::fill(a,b,v) does what its name implies: fill each element of the given range [a,b) with a copy of the provided value v.

std::iota(a,b,v) is slightly more interesting: it fills the elements of the given range with copies of ++v. That is, std::iota(a,b,42) will set a[0] equal to 42, a[1] equal to 43, a[2] equal to 44, and so on all the way up to b. This algorithm's funny name comes from the APL programming language, where a function named ι (that's the Greek letter iota) performed this operation. Another funny...