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

Best practices

Navigating permutations, partitions, and heaps offers valuable insights into the capabilities of the C++ STL. These foundational elements can significantly boost application performance and reliability when used effectively. Following best practices is critical to maximizing these benefits and ensuring consistent, optimized data operations. These best practices include the following:

  • Simplify permutation tasks: Though permutations provide a broad range of sequence variations, it’s important not to overcomplicate the process. Choose permutation operations that directly serve the task at hand. For intricate operations, breaking them down can help maintain clarity and focus.
  • Utilize STL permutation functions: The STL offers convenient functions such as std::next_permutation and std::prev_permutation to traverse permutations. Utilizing these functions eliminates the need to generate permutations manually and promotes efficient and error-free operations...