Standard Template Library

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The Standard Template Library is a template-based library of generic containers, iterators and algorithms. STL, being generic and templated is not coupled with specific data types, therefore it's possible to build own strongly-typed containers, and apply algorithms using the iterators.

STL Containers

The STL containers store objects (elements), and provide STL iterators to access these objects. There are two types of containers: sequences and associative containers.

STL Iterators

The STL iterators provide means to access data stored in the containers. There are several types of iterators: input iterators, output iterators, forward iterators, bidirectional iterators and random access iterators.

STL Algorithms

The STL algorithms provide some common functionality required by the programmer. They use iterators to access the elements of the containers. Some of the algorithms included in the STL are: sorting (several types), search, copying data, reversing data, random shuffling, and other.

References

SGI Standard Template Library Programmer's Guide (http://www.sgi.com/tech/stl/)