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

Sorting a vector

It’s a common requirement in software: organizing data. In C++, std::vector is frequently the container of choice for many, and quite naturally, one would want to sort its elements. Enter the std::sort algorithm, a versatile tool from the <algorithm> header that elevates your std::vector game to the next level.

Getting started with std::sort

std::sort isn’t just for vectors; it can sort any sequential container. However, its symbiotic relationship with std::vector is particularly noteworthy. At its simplest, using std::sort to sort a vector is a straightforward task, as shown in the following code:

std::vector<int> numbers = {5, 1, 2, 4, 3};
std::sort(std::begin(numbers), std::end(numbers));

After execution, numbers would store {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}. The beauty lies in simplicity: pass the start and end iterators of the vector to std::sort, and it takes care of the rest.

The engine under the hood – introsort

In the vast array...