MFC Programmer's SourceBook : Thinking in C++
Bruce Eckel's Thinking in C++, 2nd Ed Contents | Prev | Next

20: STL Containers & Iterators

Container classes are the solution to a specific kind of code reuse problem. They are building blocks used to create object-oriented programs – they make the internals of a program much easier to construct.

A container class describes an object that holds other objects. Container classes are so important that they were considered fundamental to early object-oriented languages. In Smalltalk, for example, programmers think of the language as the program translator together with the class library, and a critical part of that library is the container classes. So it became natural that C++ compiler vendors also include a container class library. You’ll note that the vector was so useful that it was introduced in its simplest form very early in this book.

Like many other early C++ libraries, early container class libraries followed Smalltalk’s object-based hierarchy , which worked well for Smalltalk, but turned out to be awkward and difficult to use in C++. Another approach was required.

This chapter attempts to slowly work you into the concepts of the C++ Standard Template Library (STL), which is a powerful library of containers (as well as algorithms, but these are covered in the following chapter). In the past, I have taught that there is a relatively small subset of elements and ideas that you need to understand in order to get much of the usefulness from the STL. Although this can be true it turns out that understanding the STL more deeply is important to gain the full power of the library. This chapter and the next probe into the STL containers and algorithms.

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