Book Image

C++20 STL Cookbook

By : Bill Weinman
Book Image

C++20 STL Cookbook

By: Bill Weinman

Overview of this book

Fast, efficient, and flexible, the C++ programming language has come a long way and is used in every area of the industry to solve many problems. The latest version C++20 will see programmers change the way they code as it brings a whole array of features enabling the quick deployment of applications. This book will get you up and running with using the STL in the best way possible. Beginning with new language features in C++20, this book will help you understand the language's mechanics and library features and offer insights into how they work. Unlike other books, the C++20 STL Cookbook takes an implementation-specific, problem-solution approach that will help you overcome hurdles quickly. You'll learn core STL concepts, such as containers, algorithms, utility classes, lambda expressions, iterators, and more, while working on real-world recipes. This book is a reference guide for using the C++ STL with its latest capabilities and exploring the cutting-edge features in functional programming and lambda expressions. By the end of the book C++20 book, you'll be able to leverage the latest C++ features and save time and effort while solving tasks elegantly using the STL.
Table of Contents (13 chapters)

Avoid re-compiling template libraries with modules

Header files have been around since the very beginning of the C language. Originally, they were mainly used for text substitution macros and linking external symbols between translation units. With the introduction of templates, C++ leveraged header files to carry actual code. Because templates need to be recompiled for changes in specializations, we've been carrying them around in header files for many years. As the STL continues to grow over the years, these header files have grown as well. The situation has become unwieldy and is no longer scalable for the future.

Header files typically contain a lot more than templates. They often contain configuration macros and other symbols that are required for system purposes, but not useful for the application. As the number of headers grows, the number of opportunities for symbol collisions grows as well. This is even more problematic when you consider the abundance of macros, which...