The Standard C++ Library Components

Every C++ programmer has, at one time or another, probably written a linked list or set, searching and sorting routines. Probably the programmer has re-invented the wheel for every new user-defined data type. Design changes are not easy to implement in such cases. Maintaining such code is not very easy. If the common programming components were part of the C++ language, programmers would not need to re-invent the wheel. Finally, the C++ language, provides you with general purpose components for common programming tasks through the Standard C++ Library. The Standard C++ Library provides powerful and flexible containers, programmable algorithms, and other components which are efficient and extensible. Several Standard C++ library components are defined using C++ templates.

The Standard C++ Library can be divided into the following main components.

• The Standard Template Library, more commonly referred to as STL
  
  
• The Iostream Library
  
  
• The String Classes
  
  
• Utilities
  
  
• Localization
  
  
• The Numerics Library
  
  
• Language Support
  
  
• The Standard C Library

The following paragraphs explain each component briefly.

The Standard Template Library (STL)

STL provides the user containers, algorithms, and iterators. Containers are used to organize data. Examples of containers provided by STL: vector, list, map. Iterators allow the user to access/operate on data stored in the containers. They are like C++ pointers. Algorithms use iterators to access data stored in containers. Algorithms are template functions which provide routines for sorting, searching, and editing.

The Iostream Library

The Iostream Library provides the user routines for input/ouput. It consists of the base iostream classes, stream buffering, stream formatting and manipulators, string streams, and file streams.

The String Classes

The string component provides a template class, basic_string<CHARTYPE>, which provides the means for manipulating sequences of "characters." The template parameter (CHARTYPE) defines the character type, which might be char, w_char, or any other integral data type in C++. The string and wstring types are pre-defined instantiations provided by the library.

Utilities

The utilities provide helper functions which are used by various components of the Standard C++ Library. Utilities include: templated comparison operator functions, function objects, dynamic memory management utilities, and date/time utilities.

Language Support

Language support includes common type definitions, characteristics of pre-defined types, functions supporting start and termination of a C++ program, support for dynamic type identification, support for exception processing, and other runtime support.

Localization

Localization provides the user classes and function for character classification, string collation, numeric format, monetary format, and date/time formatting and parsing.

Numerics Library

The Numerics Library provides classes and functions for components to perform semi-numerical operations, complex number types, numeric arrays, and generalized numeric algorithms.