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

Summary

In this chapter, we explored the concept of ranges in the C++ STL and how they enhance how we work with sequences of elements. We began with an introduction to ranges, understanding their essence and the motivations behind the shift to this new paradigm. We saw how range operations facilitate more expressive and readable code, and we delved into the composability that ranges introduce to sorting algorithms.

The chapter then focused on range-based sorting, discussing the basic concepts and the advantages ranges bring to the table, such as cleaner syntax and improved composability. We also examined the application of ranges in searching algorithms, appreciating the elegant and powerful ways ranges enable us to chain operations and apply filters.

Ranges help us write cleaner code in a way that better expresses our intent. The shift to ranges represents a significant evolution in the STL, offering enhanced clarity and efficiency in code. It allows us to compose complex operations...