The C++ Standard Template Library

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The Standard Template Library

The Standard Template Library - written in C++ - is a collection of container classes, basic algorithms and iterators. Over the years, it has become one of the most widely used basic frameworks in the C++ world. One could say, what C-lib is for C, STL is for C++. STL is highly parameterized, which is done through templates. Who uses STL should make himself comfortable with this concept. It is not necessary to program templates, though.

Benefit of using STL in your project

STL is part of the ANSI C++ Standard. If you use STL in your project you are industry standard compliant. The Standard is stable and there are no big canges to expect in the near future apart from extensions.

The Framework was developed by the software industry. The companies Hewlett Packard and Silicon Graphics contributed the first implementation of STL and made it available for free. A slightly improved version of this first release can be found here

Recommendations: STL

I can highly recommend Ray Lischner's C++ in a Nutshell, which is not only a good reference on C++, but also and particulary on STL.
Good to have this one on your desk. STL Pocket Reference.

Tutorials

It is always good to have an easy start. Before reading a good reference it is best to discover the structure of the subject from a tutorial. I include only a few ones, which I have read myself and think are useful books.

The Technical University of Vienna have a good one on their Web. Please find it here.
Jak Kirman's "Modest Tutorial"
Mumit's "STL Newbie Tutorial"

Platforms

The Gnu C++ programming environment comes with a very good STL implementation already.
It is available after installation.
I have verified the GNU STL implemenation on the following platforms, and had no problems.

Suse Linux (Intel)
RedHat Linux (Intel)
Cygwin on Windows XP
SUN Solaris
HP-UX

As one of the initiators of the project HP - Compaq have a very good implmenetation. Please download HP document from their Documentation Web
Silicon Grahics another "father" of STL. SGI's programmer guide can be found here.

Franz Brandel

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