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, you have learned the foundational aspects of std::vector in C++ STL. The chapter began by explaining the significance of std::vector, highlighting its advantages over C-style arrays, particularly regarding memory management and ease of use. The chapter thoroughly compared C-style arrays and std::vector, demonstrating how std::vector facilitates dynamic size adjustment and safer memory operations.

Next, you were guided through the processes of declaring and initializing vectors. You learned how to declare std::vector and initialize these instances using different methods. The chapter then explored the myriad ways of accessing elements within std::vector, from random access to accessing the first and last elements, and underscored the importance of understanding vector size.

Further, the chapter delved into the intricacies of adding and removing elements. This section illuminated the best practices for modifying the contents of a vector, including when...