Generic Programming and the STL: Using and Extending the C++ Standard Template Library Paperback - 1998 - 1st Edition

Many programmers are unaware that C++ is more than an object-oriented language. C++ is also a language for generic programming, a methodology that can greatly enhance your ability to write efficient and reusable software components. Written by noted C++ authority Matthew H. Austern, Generic Programming and the STL introduces you to the generic programming paradigm and to the most important instance of that paradigm--the C++ Standard Template Library (STL). This book reveals that the STL is more than a set of convenient container classes: It is also an extensible framework for generic and interoperable components. Generic Programming and the STL explains the central ideas underlying generic programming--concepts, modeling, and refinement--and shows how these ideas lead to the fundamental concepts of the STL: iterators, containers, and function objects. In this way you will conceive the STL as a library of concepts rather than a library of specific functions and classes. You will learn its formal structure and be able to take full advantage of its potential power. This book enables you to: Extend the STL with your own library of portable and interoperable general-purpose components C