# 标准模板库简介

The Standard Template Library, or STL, is a C++ library of container classes, algorithms, and iterators; it provides many of the basic algorithms and data structures of computer science. The STL is a generic library, meaning that its components are heavily parameterized: almost every component in the STL is a template. You should make sure that you understand how templates work in C++ before you use the STL.

## 容器和算法

Like many class libraries, the STL includes container classes: classes whose purpose is to contain other objects. The STL includes the classes vector, list, deque, set, multiset, map, multimap, hash_set, hash_multiset, hash_map, and hash_multimap. Each of these classes is a template, and can be instantiated to contain any type of object. You can, for example, use a vector<int> in much the same way as you would use an ordinary C array, except that vector eliminates the chore of managing dynamic memory allocation by hand.

       vector<int> v(3);             // Declare a vector of 3 elements.
       v[0] = 7;
       v[1] = v[0] + 3;
       v[2] = v[0] + v[1];           // v[0] == 7, v[1] == 10, v[2] == 17
       vector<int> v(3);             // 声明一个包含三个元素的vector.
       v[0] = 7;
       v[1] = v[0] + 3;
       v[2] = v[0] + v[1];           // v[0] == 7, v[1] == 10, v[2] == 17


The STL also includes a large collection of algorithms that manipulate the data stored in containers. You can reverse the order of elements in a vector, for example, by using the reverse algorithm.

STL也包括一个很大的算法集合用于处理存储在容器的数据。例如你可以通过使用reverse算法倒序保存在vector中的元素。

       reverse(v.begin(), v.end()); // v[0] == 17, v[1] == 10, v[2] == 7

There are two important points to notice about this call to reverse. First, it is a global function, not a member function. Second, it takes two arguments rather than one: it operates on a range of elements, rather than on a container. In this particular case the range happens to be the entire container v.

The reason for both of these facts is the same: reverse, like other STL algorithms, is decoupled from the STL container classes. This means that reverse can be used not only to reverse elements in vectors, but also to reverse elements in lists, and even elements in C arrays. The following program is also valid.

       double A[6] = { 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7 };
       reverse(A, A + 6);
       for (int i = 0; i < 6; ++i)
         cout << "A[" << i << "] = " << A[i];

This example uses a range, just like the example of reversing a vector: the first argument to reverse is a pointer to the beginning of the range, and the second argument points one element past the end of the range. This range is denoted [A, A + 6); the asymmetrical notation is a reminder that the two endpoints are different, that the first is the beginning of the range and the second is one past the end of the range.

## 迭代器

In the example of reversing a C array, the arguments to reverse are clearly of type double*. What are the arguments to reverse if you are reversing a vector, though, or a list? That is, what exactly does reverse declare its arguments to be, and what exactly do v.begin() and v.end() return?

The answer is that the arguments to reverse are iterators, which are a generalization of pointers. Pointers themselves are iterators, which is why it is possible to reverse the elements of a C array. Similarly, vector declares the nested types iterator and const_iterator. In the example above, the type returned by v.begin() and v.end() is vector<int>::iterator. There are also some iterators, such as istream_iterator and ostream_iterator, that aren't associated with containers at all.

Iterators are the mechanism that makes it possible to decouple algorithms from containers: algorithms are templates, and are parameterized by the type of iterator, so they are not restricted to a single type of container. Consider, for example, how to write an algorithm that performs linear search through a range. This is the STL's find algorithm.

template <class InputIterator, class T>

       InputIterator find(InputIterator first, InputIterator last, const T& value) {
           while (first != last && *first != value) ++first;
           return first;
       }
find要求三个参数：两个迭代器定义了一个区间，一个value用于在区间中查找。它在区间[first,last)中检查每一个迭代器，从开始到结束，在找到一个指向value的迭代器或者到达区间尾时停止。

Find takes three arguments: two iterators that define a range, and a value to search for in that range. It examines each iterator in the range [first, last), proceeding from the beginning to the end, and stops either when it finds an iterator that points to value or when it reaches the end of the range.

First and last are declared to be of type InputIterator, and InputIterator is a template parameter. That is, there isn't actually any type called InputIterator: when you call find, the compiler substitutes the actual type of the arguments for the formal type parameters InputIterator and T. If the first two arguments to find are of type int* and the third is of type int, then it is as if you had called the following function.

Firstlast被声明为InputIterator类型，是一个模板参数类型。实际上并没有叫做InputItearot的类型：当你调用find时，编译器会用实参类型替换型参InputIteartorT。假如传递给find的前面两个参数是int*，第三个参数是int的话，实际上你调用的函数是下面这样的：

       int* find(int* first, int* last, const int& value) {
           while (first != last && *first != value) ++first;
           return first;
       }

## 概念和模型

One very important question to ask about any template function, not just about STL algorithms, is what the set of types is that may correctly be substituted for the formal template parameters. Clearly, for example, int* or double* may be substituted for find's formal template parameter InputIterator. Equally clearly, int or double may not: find uses the expression *first, and the dereference operator makes no sense for an object of type int or of type double. The basic answer, then, is that find implicitly defines a set of requirements on types, and that it may be instantiated with any type that satisfies those requirements. Whatever type is substituted for InputIterator must provide certain operations: it must be possible to compare two objects of that type for equality, it must be possible to increment an object of that type, it must be possible to dereference an object of that type to obtain the object that it points to, and so on.

Iterato。同样地，int或者double也许不会：find使用表达式*first，解引用运算符对一个int或者double类型没有任何意义。一个简单的答案是，find也许显示定义了一个需求类型集合，它会这些参数能满足需求的时候被实例化（也就是不满足要求的会报错了）。能够替换InputIterator的参数必须提供能够以下操作：它必须可以比较两个类型是否相等，它必须可以自增，而且还可以解引用获得它指向的元素，等等。

Find isn't the only STL algorithm that has such a set of requirements; the arguments to for_each and count, and other algorithms, must satisfy the same requirements. These requirements are sufficiently important that we give them a name: we call such a set of type requirements a concept, and we call this particular concept Input Iterator. We say that a type conforms to a concept, or that it is a model of a concept, if it satisfies all of those requirements. We say that int* is a model of Input Iterator because int* provides all of the operations that are specified by the Input Iterator requirements.

STL算法中并不是只要Find有这样的一个需求集合，for_eachcount的参数，还要其他的算法同样需要满足同样的要求。这些需求是足够重要的，我们给他们起个名字：我们称这样的类型需求集合为概念，这样一个特殊的概念叫做输入迭代器。我们称满足这样要求的概念为一个模型。Int*是一个Input Iterator因为int*提供了所有Input Iterator要求的的操作。

Concepts are not a part of the C++ language; there is no way to declare a concept in a program, or to declare that a particular type is a model of a concept. Nevertheless, concepts are an extremely important part of the STL. Using concepts makes it possible to write programs that cleanly separate interface from implementation: the author of find only has to consider the interface specified by the concept Input Iterator, rather than the implementation of every possible type that conforms to that concept. Similarly, if you want to use find, you need only to ensure that the arguments you pass to it are models of Input Iterator. This is the reason why find and reverse can be used with lists, vectors, C arrays, and many other types: programming in terms of concepts, rather than in terms of specific types, makes it possible to reuse software components and to combine components together.

## 精巧

Input Iterator is, in fact, a rather weak concept: that is, it imposes very few requirements. An Input Iterator must support a subset of pointer arithmetic (it must be possible to increment an Input Iterator using prefix and postfix operator++), but need not support all operations of pointer arithmetic. This is sufficient for find, but some other algorithms require that their arguments satisfy additional requirements. Reverse, for example, must be able to decrement its arguments as well as increment them; it uses the expression --last. In terms of concepts, we say that reverse's arguments must be models of Bidirectional Iterator rather than Input Iterator.

Input Iterator事实上是一个非常弱的概念：它强加了很少的要求。一个Input Iterator必须提供一个指针算术的子集（它必须可以去通过前缀或者后缀的++递增一个Input Iterator），但是不需要提供所以的指针运算。这些对于find来说已经足够了，但是其他的一些算法需要一些额外的要求。例如Reverse必须可以通过--实现递减。按照概念的说法，我们说Reverse的参数为Bidirectional Iterator模型而非Input Iterator

The Bidirectional Iterator concept is very similar to the Input Iterator concept: it simply imposes some additional requirements. The types that are models of Bidirectional Iterator are a subset of the types that are models of Input Iterator: every type that is a model of Bidirectional Iterator is also a model of Input Iterator. Int*, for example, is both a model of Bidirectional Iterator and a model of Input Iterator, but istream_iterator, is only a model of Input Iterator: it does not conform to the more stringent Bidirectional Iterator requirements.

Bidirectional Iterator的概念和Input Iterator非常相似: 它仅仅加了一些额外的要求。Bidirectional Iterator的模型也是一个Input Iterator的子集:

We describe the relationship between Input Iterator and Bidirectional Iterator by saying that Bidirectional Iterator is a refinement of Input Iterator. Refinement of concepts is very much like inheritance of C++ classes; the main reason we use a different word, instead of just calling it "inheritance", is to emphasize that refinement applies to concepts rather than to actual types.

There are actually three more iterator concepts in addition to the two that we have already discussed: the five iterator concepts are Output Iterator, Input Iterator, Forward Iterator, Bidirectional Iterator, and Random Access Iterator; Forward Iterator is a refinement of Input Iterator, Bidirectional Iterator is a refinement of Forward Iterator, and Random Access Iterator is a refinement of Bidirectional Iterator. (Output Iterator is related to the other four concepts, but it is not part of the hierarchy of refinement: it is not a refinement of any of the other iterator concepts, and none of the other iterator concepts are refinements of it.) The Iterator Overview has more information about iterators in general.

Container classes, like iterators, are organized into a hierarchy of concepts. All containers are models of the concept Container; more refined concepts, such as Sequence and Associative Container, describe specific types of containers.

## Other parts of the STL

If you understand algorithms, iterators, and containers, then you understand almost everything there is to know about the STL. The STL does, however, include several other types of components.

First, the STL includes several utilities: very basic concepts and functions that are used in many different parts of the library. The concept Assignable, for example, describes types that have assignment operators and copy constructors; almost all STL classes are models of Assignable, and almost all STL algorithms require their arguments to be models of Assignable.

Second, the STL includes some low-level mechanisms for allocating and deallocating memory. Allocators are very specialized, and you can safely ignore them for almost all purposes.

Finally, the STL includes a large collection of function objects, also known as functors. Just as iterators are a generalization of pointers, function objects are a generalization of functions: a function object is anything that you can call using the ordinary function call syntax. There are several different concepts relating to function objects, including Unary Function (a function object that takes a single argument, i.e. one that is called as f(x)) and Binary Function (a function object that takes two arguments, i.e. one that is called as f(x, y)). Function objects are an important part of generic programming because they allow abstraction not only over the types of objects, but also over the operations that are being performed.

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