Book Image

Data Structures and Algorithms with the C++ STL

By : John Farrier
5 (2)
Book Image

Data Structures and Algorithms with the C++ STL

5 (2)
By: John Farrier

Overview of this book

While the Standard Template Library (STL) offers a rich set of tools for data structures and algorithms, navigating its intricacies can be daunting for intermediate C++ developers without expert guidance. This book offers a thorough exploration of the STL’s components, covering fundamental data structures, advanced algorithms, and concurrency features. Starting with an in-depth analysis of the std::vector, this book highlights its pivotal role in the STL, progressing toward building your proficiency in utilizing vectors, managing memory, and leveraging iterators. The book then advances to STL’s data structures, including sequence containers, associative containers, and unordered containers, simplifying the concepts of container adaptors and views to enhance your knowledge of modern STL programming. Shifting the focus to STL algorithms, you’ll get to grips with sorting, searching, and transformations and develop the skills to implement and modify algorithms with best practices. Advanced sections cover extending the STL with custom types and algorithms, as well as concurrency features, exception safety, and parallel algorithms. By the end of this book, you’ll have transformed into a proficient STL practitioner ready to tackle real-world challenges and build efficient and scalable C++ applications.
Table of Contents (30 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Part 1: Mastering std::vector
7
Part 2: Understanding STL Data Structures
13
Part 3: Mastering STL Algorithms
19
Part 4: Creating STL-Compatible Types and Algorithms
23
Part 5: STL Data Structures and Algorithms: Under the Hood

Part 1: Mastering std::vector

In this Part, we will build our knowledge of C++ Standard Template (STL) Library containers and algorithms on a foundation of a comprehensive examination of std::vector. We will start with introducing std::vector, contrasting it with traditional C-style arrays, and covering essential operations such as initializing, accessing, and modifying elements. We then advance to the intricacies of iterators, revealing their types and uses in std::vector operations and the elegance of range-based for loops. Memory management is demystified by constructing an understanding of optimizing the allocation and deallocation of resources, including an introduction to creating custom allocators. The section then builds into applying algorithms to sort, search, and manipulate vector contents efficiently, emphasizing the role of custom comparators and the importance of understanding iterator invalidation. The final chapter encapsulates the performance considerations and practical applications of std::vector, cementing its status as the default container choice for C++ developers.

This part has the following chapters:

  • Chapter 1: The Basics of std::vector
  • Chapter 2: Mastering Iterators with std::vector
  • Chapter 3: Mastering Memory and Allocators with std::vector
  • Chapter 4: Mastering Algorithms with std::vector
  • Chapter 5: Making a Case for std::vector