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

The effect of noexcept on STL operations

The C++ STL gives a rich assortment of data structures and algorithms that greatly simplify programming in C++. Exception safety is a critical aspect of robust C++ programming, and the noexcept specifier plays a pivotal role in achieving it. This section elucidates the impact of noexcept on STL operations and how its correct application can enhance the reliability and performance of STL-based code.

An introduction to noexcept

Introduced in C++11, noexcept is a specifier that can be added to function declarations to indicate that the function is not expected to throw exceptions. When a function is declared with noexcept, it enables specific optimizations and guarantees that make exception handling more predictable. For instance, when an exception is thrown from a noexcept function, the program calls std::terminate, as the function violated its contract of not throwing exceptions. Hence, noexcept is a commitment that a function promises...