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

STL containers and thread safety

When discussing STL containers, assuming a blanket level of thread safety across all of them is tempting. However, such assumptions can be misleading. By default, STL containers are not thread-safe for modifications, meaning if one thread modifies a container, other threads simultaneously accessing it might lead to undefined behavior.

However, some inherent guarantees exist. For instance, it is safe for multiple threads to simultaneously read from an STL container, as long as no thread is modifying it. This is often referred to as read concurrency. Yet, the moment even a single thread tries to change the container while others read, we’re back in the dangerous territory of race conditions.

When safety needs reinforcements – concurrent modifications

While reading concurrently is safe, modifications bring a different set of challenges. Suppose two or more threads attempt to modify an STL container simultaneously. In that case, the...