C++ Standard Template Library

What is the Standard Template Library?

The Standard Template Library (STL) is a general-purpose C++ library of algorithms and data structures, originated by Alexander Stepanov and Meng Lee. The STL, based on a concept known as generic programming, is part of the standard ANSI C++ library. The STL is implemented by means of the C++ template mechanism, hence its name. While some aspects of the library are very complex, it can often be applied in a very straightforward way, facilitating reuse of the sophisticated data structures and algorithms it contains.

What about the string class?

Although not part of the STL, the string class is also part of the ANSI C++ standard library. Like the STL, it provides a commonly needed facility (character string handling).

A basic introduction to the STL and the string class

A complete introduction to the STL can be found by consulting the references below. For starters, though, a small number of classes and algorithms can be very useful:

• The find algorithm
• The list container template
• The map container template
• The iterator classes
• The string class
• The sort algorithm
• The vector container template

If you wish to use STL containers to hold objects of user-defined (class) types, as opposed to built-in types (e.g., int), please refer to the requirements for these objects.

This short overview of the C++ STL is also available as a PDF-file.

Links to other resources

For more information on the STL, try the following links:

• Download the sgi reference implementation of the STL from: http://www.sgi.com/tech/stl
• Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0 has a reasonably good implementation of the STL and the string class as part of its standard library (see the MSVC 5.0 documentation for more information).
• Reference and tutorial information
  • On-line reference: http://www.cs.rpi.edu/~musser/stl-book/
  • Book: David R. Musser and Atul Saini, STL Tutorial and Reference Guide: C++ Programming with the Standard Template Library, Addison-Wesley, 1996, ISBN 0-201-63398-1. More information is available by searhing for one of the authors' names at Addison-Wesley's web site.
• Newsgroups
  • comp.lang.c++
  • comp.std.c++

Copyright 2002 by Patrick Meier
Last updated on 26.08.2002 by Patrick Meier