C++ Standard Library, The (2^nd Ed.)
A Tutorial and Reference

The Best-Selling C++ Resource

Now Updated for C++11

The C++ standard library provides a set of common classes and interfaces that greatly extend the core C++ language. The library, however, is not self-explanatory. To make full use of its components?and to benefit from their power?you need a resource that does far more than list the classes and their functions.

The C++ Standard Library: A Tutorial and Reference, Second Edition, describes this library as now incorporated into the new ANSI/ISO C++ language standard (C++11). The book provides comprehensive documentation of each library component, including an introduction to its purpose and design; clearly written explanations of complex concepts; the practical programming details needed for effective use; traps and pitfalls; the exact signature and definition of the most important classes and functions; and numerous examples of working code. The book focuses in particular on the Standard Template Library (STL), examining containers, iterators, function objects, and STL algorithms.

The book covers all the new C++11 library components, including

• Concurrency
• Fractional arithmetic
• Clocks and timers
• Tuples
• New STL containers
• New STL algorithms
• New smart pointers
• New locale facets
• Random numbers and distributions
• Type traits and utilities
• Regular expressions

The book also examines the new C++ programming style and its effect on the standard library, including lambdas, range-based for loops, move semantics, and variadic templates.

An accompanying Web site, including source code, can be found at www.cppstdlib.com.

Preface to the Second Edition xxiii

Acknowledgments for the Second Edition xxiv

Preface to the First Edition xxv

Acknowledgments for the First Edition xxvi

Chapter 1: About This Book 1

1.1 Why This Book 1

1.2 Before Reading This Book 2

1.3 Style and Structure of the Book 2

1.4 How to Read This Book 4

1.5 State of the Art 5

1.6 Example Code and Additional Information 5

1.7 Feedback 5

Chapter 2: Introduction to C++ and the Standard Library 7

2.1 History of the C++ Standards 7

2.2 Complexity and Big-O Notation 10

Chapter 3: New Language Features 13

3.1 New C++11 Language Features 13

3.2 Old “New” Language Features 33

Chapter 4: General Concepts 39

4.1 Namespace std 39

4.2 Header Files 40

4.3 Error and Exception Handling 41

4.4 Callable Objects 54

4.5 Concurrency and Multithreading 55

4.6 Allocators 57

Chapter 5: Utilities 59

5.1 Pairs and Tuples 60

5.2 Smart Pointers 76

5.3 Numeric Limits 115

5.4 Type Traits and Type Utilities 122

5.5 Auxiliary Functions 134

5.6 Compile-Time Fractional Arithmetic with Class ratio<> 140

5.7 Clocks and Timers 143

5.8 Header Files <cstddef>, <cstdlib>, and <cstring> 161

Chapter 6: The Standard Template Library 165

6.1 STL Components 165

6.2 Containers 167

6.3 Iterators 188

6.4 Algorithms 199

6.5 Iterator Adapters 210

6.6 User-Defined Generic Functions 216

6.7 Manipulating Algorithms 217

6.8 Functions as Algorithm Arguments 224

6.9 Using Lambdas 229

6.10 Function Objects 233

6.11 Container Elements 244

6.12 Errors and Exceptions inside the STL 245

6.13 Extending the STL 250

Chapter 7: STL Containers 253

7.1 Common Container Abilities and Operations 254

7.2 Arrays 261

7.3 Vectors 270

7.4 Deques 283

7.5 Lists 290

7.6 Forward Lists 300

7.7 Sets and Multisets 314

7.8 Maps and Multimaps 331

7.9 Unordered Containers 355

7.10 Other STL Containers 385

7.11 Implementing Reference Semantics 388

7.12 When to Use Which Container 392

Chapter 8: STL Container Members in Detail 397

8.1 Type Definitions 397

8.2 Create, Copy, and Destroy Operations 400

8.3 Nonmodifying Operations 403

8.4 Assignments 406

8.5 Direct Element Access 408

8.6 Operations to Generate Iterators 410

8.7 Inserting and Removing Elements 411

8.8 Special Member Functions for Lists and Forward Lists 420

8.9 Container Policy Interfaces 427

8.10 Allocator Support 430

Chapter 9: STL Iterators 433

9.1 Header Files for Iterators 433

9.2 Iterator Categories 433

9.3 Auxiliary Iterator Functions 441

9.4 Iterator Adapters 448

9.5 Iterator Traits 466

9.6 Writing User-Defined Iterators 471

Chapter 10: STL Function Objects and Using Lambdas 475

10.1 The Concept of Function Objects 475

10.2 Predefined Function Objects and Binders 486

10.3 Using Lambdas 499

Chapter 11: STL Algorithms 505

11.1 Algorithm Header Files 505

11.2 Algorithm Overview 505

11.3 Auxiliary Functions 517

11.4 The for_each() Algorithm 519

11.5 Nonmodifying Algorithms 524

11.6 Modifying Algorithms 557

11.7 Removing Algorithms 575

11.8 Mutating Algorithms 583

11.9 Sorting Algorithms 596

11.10 Sorted-Range Algorithms 608

11.11 Numeric Algorithms 623

Chapter 12: Special Containers 631

12.1 Stacks 632

12.2 Queues 638

12.3 Priority Queues 641

12.4 Container Adapters in Detail 645

12.5 Bitsets 650

Chapter 13: Strings 655

13.1 Purpose of the String Classes 656

13.2 Description of the String Classes 663

13.3 String Class in Detail 693

Chapter 14: Regular Expressions 717

14.1 The Regex Match and Search Interface 717

14.2 Dealing with Subexpressions 720

14.3 Regex Iterators 726

14.4 Regex Token Iterators 727

14.5 Replacing Regular Expressions 730

14.6 Regex Flags 732

14.7 Regex Exceptions 735

14.8 The Regex ECMA Script Grammar 738

14.9 Other Grammars 739

14.10 Basic Regex Signatures in Detail 740

Chapter 15: Input/Output Using Stream Classes 743

15.1 Common Background of I/O Streams 744

15.2 Fundamental Stream Classes and Objects 748

15.3 Standard Stream Operators << and >> 753

15.4 State of Streams 758

15.5 Standard Input/Output Functions 767

15.6 Manipulators 774

15.7 Formatting 779

15.8 Internationalization 790

15.9 File Access 791

15.10 Stream Classes for Strings 802

15.11 Input/Output Operators for User-Defined Types 810

15.12 Connecting Input and Output Streams 819

15.13 The Stream Buffer Classes 826

15.14 Performance Issues 844

Chapter 16: Internationalization 849

16.1 Character Encodings and Character Sets 850

16.2 The Concept of Locales 857

16.3 Locales in Detail 866

16.4 Facets in Detail 869

Chapter 17: Numerics 907

17.1 Random Numbers and Distributions 907

17.2 Complex Numbers 925

17.3 Global Numeric Functions 941

17.4 Valarrays 943

Chapter 18: Concurrency 945

18.1 The High-Level Interface: async() and Futures 946

18.2 The Low-Level Interface: Threads and Promises 964

18.3 Starting a Thread in Detail 973

18.4 Synchronizing Threads, or the Problem of Concurrency 982

18.5 Mutexes and Locks 989

18.6 Condition Variables 1003

18.7 Atomics 1012

Chapter 19: Allocators 1023

19.1 Using Allocators as an Application Programmer 1023

19.2 A User-Defined Allocator 1024

19.3 Using Allocators as a Library Programmer 1026

Bibliography 1031

Index 1037

Nicolai M. Josuttis is an independent technical consultant who designs mid-sized and large software systems for the telecommunication, traffic, finance, and manufacturing industries. A former member of the C++ Standard Committee library working group, he is well known in the programming community for his authoritative books. In addition to The C++ Standard Library, a worldwide best-seller since its first publication in 1999, his books include C++ Templates: The Complete Guide (with David Vandevoorde, Addison-Wesley, 2003) and SOA in Practice: The Art of Distributed System Design (O’Reilly Media, 2007).