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

Allocators and container performance

At the heart of every container’s efficiency lies its memory management strategy, and for std::vector, allocators play a crucial role. While memory allocation might seem straightforward, the nuances in allocator design can bring various performance implications.

Why allocators matter in performance

Before we can harness the potential of allocators, we need to understand why they matter. Memory allocation isn’t a one-size-fits-all operation. Depending on the application’s specific needs, the frequency of allocations, the size of memory blocks, and the lifetime of these allocations can vary drastically.

  • Speed of allocation and deallocation: The time it takes to allocate and deallocate memory can be a significant factor. Some allocators might optimize for speed at the expense of memory overhead, while others might do the opposite.
  • Memory overhead: The overhead involves the allocator’s extra memory for bookkeeping...