STANDARD TEMPLATE LIBRARY

Bùi Tiến Lên

2022
Contents

1. STL Containers

2. STL Iterators

3. STL Algorithms

4. Workshop
 Introduction
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms Concept 1

Workshop
The Standard Template Library (STL) contains many templates for useful
algorithms and data structures.

The STL is a set of template classes and functions that supply the programmer
with
• Containers for storing information
• Iterators for accessing the information stored
• Algorithms for manipulating the content of the containers

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 STL Containers
• Sequential Containers
• Associative Containers
• Container Adapters
 STL Containers
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms
Containers are STL classes that are used to store data. STL supplies two types of
Workshop container classes:
• Sequential containers
• Associative containers
In addition to these STL also provides classes called Container Adapters that are
variants of the same with reduced functionality which support a specific purpose.

5
 Sequential Containers
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms
Sequential containers are characterized by a fast insertion time, but are relatively
Workshop slow in find operations.
• vector – Operates like a dynamic array and grows at the end. Think of a
vector like a shelf of books to which you can add or remove books on one end
• deque – Similar to vector except that it allows for new elements to be
inserted or removed at the beginning, too
• list – Operates like a doubly-linked list. Think of this like a chain where an
object is a link in the chain. You can add or remove links – that is, objects –
at any position
• forward_list – Similar to a list except that it is a singly-linked list of
elements that allows you to iterate only in one direction

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 vector: Inserting Elements at the End
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms # include <iostream >

Workshop # include <vector >
using namespace std;
int main () {
vector <int > vecIntegers ;
// Insert sample integers into the vector
vecIntegers . push_back (50);
vecIntegers . push_back (1);
vecIntegers . push_back (987);
vecIntegers . push_back (1001) ;
cout << "The vector contains ";
cout << vecIntegers .size () << " Elements " << endl;
return 0;
}

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 vector: Removing Elements
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms # include <iostream >

Workshop # include <vector >
using namespace std;
int main () {
vector <int > vecIntegers ;
// Insert sample integers into the vector
vecIntegers . push_back (50);
vecIntegers . push_back (1);
vecIntegers . push_back (987);
// Erase one element at the end
vecIntegers . pop_back ();
cout << "The vector contains ";
cout << vecIntegers .size () << " Elements " << endl;
return 0;
}

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 vector: Accessing Elements
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms
Elements in a vector can be accessed using the following methods:
Workshop • using the subscript operator []
• using the member function at()
• or using iterators

vector <int > vecIntegers ;

// Insert sample integers into the vector
vecIntegers . push_back (50);
vecIntegers . push_back (1);
vecIntegers . push_back (987);
vecIntegers [2] = 123;

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 Associative Containers
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms
Associative containers are those that store data in a sorted fashion – akin to a
Workshop dictionary. This results in slower insertion times, but presents significant
advantages when it comes to searching. The associative containers supplied by
STL are
• set – Stores unique values sorted on insertion in a container featuring
logarithmic complexity.
• unordered_set – Stores unique values sorted on insertion in a container
featuring near constant complexity.
• map – Stores key-value pairs sorted by their unique keys in a container with
logarithmic complexity
• unordered_map – Stores key-value pairs sorted by their unique keys in a
container with near constant complexity.

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 Associative Containers (cont.)
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms • multiset – Akin to a set. Additionally, supports the ability to store multiple
Workshop items having the same value; that is, the value doesn’t need to be unique.
• unordered_multiset – Akin to a unordered_set. Additionally, supports
the ability to store multiple items having the same value; that is, the value
doesn’t need to be unique.
• multimap – Akin to a map. Additionally, supports the ability to store
key-value pairs where keys don’t need to be unique.
• unordered_multimap – Akin to a unordered_map. Additionally, supports
the ability to store key-value pairs where keys don’t need to be unique.

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 Container Adapters
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms
Container Adapters are variants of sequential and associative containers that have
Workshop limited functionality and are intended to fulfill a particular purpose. The main
adapter classes are:
• stack – Stores elements in a LIFO (last-in-first-out) fashion, allowing
elements to be inserted (pushed) and removed (popped) at the top.
• queue – Stores elements in FIFO (first-in-first-out) fashion, allowing the first
element to be removed in the order they’re inserted.
• priority_queue – Stores elements in a sorted order, such that the one
whose value is evaluated to be the highest is always first in the queue.

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STL Iterators
 STL Iterators
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms • Iterators in STL are template classes that in some ways are a generalization
Workshop of pointers.
• These are template classes that give the programmer a handle by which he
can work with and manipulate STL containers and perform operations on
them.
• Note that operations could as well be STL algorithms that are template
functions, Iterators are the bridge that allows these template functions to
work with containers, which are template classes, in a consistent and
seamless manner.

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 Iterator Types
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms
Iterator Type Description
Workshop
Input Input iterators of the purest kinds guarantee read
access only.
Output Output iterators of the strictest types guarantee write
access only.
Forward Can only move forward in a container (uses the ++
operator).
Bidirectional Can move forward or backward in a container (uses
the ++ and -- operators).
Random-access Can move forward and backward, and can jump to a
specific data element in a container.

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 Pointers vs. Iterators
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms

Workshop operator meaning pointer iterator

* and -> to dereference yes yes
= to assign yes yes
== and != to compare yes yes
++ to move next element yes yes
-- to move previous element yes yes (bidirectional
and random-
access)
+ to move forward a specific yes yes
number of elements
- to move backward a specific yes yes (bidirectional
number of elements and random-
access)
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 Iterator Types (cont.)
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms Input Output

Workshop

Forward

Bidirectional

Random-access
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 Iterator Syntax
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms • To define an iterator, we must know what type of container we will be using
Workshop it with.
• The general format of an iterator definition:
containerType::iterator iteratorName;
containerType::const_iterator iteratorName;
containerType::reverse_iterator iteratorName;
where containerType is the STL container type, and iteratorName is the
name of the iterator variable that you are defining.

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 Containter and Iterator
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms
All of the STL containers
Workshop • have a begin() member function that returns an iterator pointing to the
container’s first element.
• have a end() member function that returns an iterator pointing to the
position after the container’s last element.

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STL Algorithms
 STL Algorithms
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms Idea

Workshop
Finding, sorting, reversing, and the like are standard programming requirements
that should not require the programmer to reinvent implementation to support.

• To use STL algorithms must include the header file

#include <algorithm>
• This is precisely why STL supplies these functions in the form of STL
algorithms that work well with containers using iterators to help the
programmer with some of the most common requirements.
• STL algorithms can be broadly classified into two types:
• non-mutating algorithms
• mutating algorithms

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 Non-Mutating Algorithms
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms • Algorithms that change neither the order nor the contents of a container are
Workshop called non-mutating algorithms.
• find – Helps find a value in a collection
• find_if – Helps find a value in a collection on the basis of a specific
user-defined predicate

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 Mutating Algorithms
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms • Mutating algorithms are those that change the contents or the order of the
Workshop sequence they are operating on.
• reverse – Reverses a collection
• remove_if – Helps remove an item from a collection on the basis of a
user-defined predicate
• transform – Helps apply a user-defined transformation function to
elements in a container

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 The Interaction Between Containers and Algorithms
STL Containers
Sequential Containers

Using Iterators
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms

Workshop
Container

«permit»

Iterator

Algorithm

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 Usage of STL Algorithms
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms
Finding elements given a value or a condition
Workshop • Given a container such as a vector, STL algorithms find() and find_if()
help you find an element that matches a value or fulfills a condition,
respectively. The usage of find() follows this pattern
auto iElementFound = find ( vecIntegers .begin () // Start of range
, vecIntegers .end () // End of range
, NumToFind ); // Element to find

// Check if find succeeded

if ( iElementFound != vecIntegers .end ())
cout << " Result : Value found !" << endl;

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Workshop
 Quiz
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms 1. What would be your choice of a container that has to contain an array of
Workshop objects with insertion possible at the top and at the bottom?
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2. We need to store elements for quick lookup. What container would we
choose?
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 Quiz (cont.)
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms
3. We need to store elements in a std::set but still have the storage and
Workshop lookup criteria altered, based on conditions that are not necessarily the value
of the elements. Is this possible?
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.........................................................................
.........................................................................
4. What part of STL helps connect algorithms to containers so that algorithms
can work on those elements?
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.........................................................................

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 Quiz (cont.)
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms
5. Would you choose to use container hash_set in an application that needs to
Workshop be ported to different platforms and built using different C++ compilers?
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.........................................................................

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 Exercises
STL Containers
Sequential Containers
Associative Containers
Container Adapters

STL Iterators

STL Algorithms
Demonstrate how STL algorithms do
Workshop 1. Counting elements given a value or a condition
2. Searching for an element or a range in a collection
3. Initializing elements in a container to a specific value
4. Initialize elements to a value generated at runtime
5. Copy and remove operations
6. Sorting and searching in a sorted collection and erasing duplicates

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References

Deitel, P. (2016).
C++: How to program.
Pearson.
Gaddis, T. (2014).
Starting Out with C++ from Control Structures to Objects.
Addison-Wesley Professional, 8th edition.
Jones, B. (2014).
Sams teach yourself C++ in one hour a day.
Sams.