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

std::array

std::array is a fixed-size container that wraps around a traditional C-style array. If you’re coming from a C background or even early C++, you’ll be familiar with the headaches of raw arrays—the lack of bounds-checking, the cumbersome syntax, and more. With std::array, you get all the benefits of a traditional array, such as static memory allocation and constant-time access, while enjoying modern C++ amenities including range-based for-loops and member functions for size checking. Use std::array when you know the size of your dataset in advance, and it will not change. It’s perfect for scenarios where performance is paramount and your memory needs are static.

Note

For more information on CPP core guidelines, please refer to C++ Core Guidelines https://isocpp.github.io/CppCoreGuidelines/CppCoreGuidelines

Purpose and suitability

std::array is a container that encapsulates fixed-size arrays. Its strengths are as follows:

  • Predictable...