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

This chapter discussed the intricacies of thread safety and concurrency within the STL. We started by distinguishing between concurrency and thread safety, underscoring that while related, each serves a distinct purpose. Our journey began with a foundational understanding of thread safety as a pillar for stable concurrency and how the lack thereof can lead to unpredictable software behavior. We examined the interplay between these concepts, addressing the challenges and highlighting the rewards of concurrent programming when thread safety is maintained.

We looked into the thread-safe nature of STL containers and algorithms, dissecting race conditions and the techniques to anticipate and guard against them. The chapter provided detailed insights into the behaviors of various STL containers under multi-threaded scenarios, from std::vector to std::list and associative to unordered containers. We also uncovered the concurrency aspects of container adaptors, asserting that knowledge...