STL for C++ Programmers

The Standard Template Library (STL) is one of the most powerful features of C++: It allows for fast, flexible data structures with a minimum of programming overhead. However, because of STL's well-deserved reputation for difficult syntax and obscure design principals based on "generic programming" techniques, not all C++ programmers take full advantage of STL's features. STL for C++ Programmers, by Leen Ammeraal, is a very useful guide to the fundamental and advanced features of STL. The book shows the power and extensibility of STL with readable programming examples that are tailored to Borland C++ 5.x, but should work with other C++ compilers.

STL for C++ Programmers starts out with the basics of using STL, including the pitfalls of "name collisions," which can make it difficult for programmers to get STL to work with existing code libraries, such as Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC). Basic container types such as vectors, lists, double-ended queues (deques), maps, and sets are introduced. The author then begins to show STL's particular strengths in supporting extensible sets of functions and objects that can manipulate items inside a collection--a topic that is unexplored in many other texts. The rest of the book is devoted to exploring these algorithms in STL. It closes with a very useful application of STL--a class library that arbitrarily processes large numbers (treated as strings), which are used here to calculate the numerical value of pi. STL for C++ Programmers fills a gap in the programming literature with a readable introduction to how to get started in STL programming without a lot of syntactic mumbo jumbo. It also shows how powerful STL can be for advanced users who are willing to delve into the details of this rich class library.