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)

Always associate a mutex with its controlled data

Consider the following sketch of a thread-safe StreamingAverage class. There is a bug here; can you find it?

    class StreamingAverage {
double m_sum = 0;
int m_count = 0;
double m_last_average = 0;
std::mutex m_mtx;
public:
// Called from the single producer thread
void add_value(double x) {
std::lock_guard lk(m_mtx);
m_sum += x;
m_count += 1; // A
}

// Called from the single consumer thread
double get_current_average() {
std::lock_guard lk(m_mtx);
m_last_average = m_sum / m_count; // B
return m_last_average;
}

// Called from the single consumer thread
double get_last_average() const {
return m_last_average; // C
}

// Called from the single consumer thread
double get_current_count() const {
return...