C++ standard API

Question

I am a student, and new to C++. I am searching for a standard C++ API that is as comprehensive as the Java API. So far I have been using cplusplus.com, and cppreference.com.

Please any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

C++ and Java have very different standard libraries because they make very different assumptions about what they are going to be used for.

Java assumes that applications or applets will be running on a host with a full featured OS, with a defined way of doing most normal things.

There's a lot of content in that, for instance, in java, the output will be an application or applet. C++ does not make that assumption, because C++ can be used for building OS Kernels and drivers for kernels, it can be used for programming full stack real time applications on microcontrollers, or processing blocks in supercomputers.

C++ can be used for implementing the very operating system on which it will run.

For these reasons, the standard library assumes almost nothing about what it will have available, and so the standard library doesn't make any dependencies on those features.

The only exception is with files and streaming, because almost any operating system like stack has something that looks like a file stream if it has anything like files at all.

If you want a richer set of OS Specific api's you need to look at something non-standard. A great choice is the Qt framework, which provides many tools similar to what is found in the Java libraries, is cross platform, and works well with native C++ idioms.

Answer 2

C++ has a standard library.

You can try reading the "The C++ Standard Library: A Tutorial and Reference". While I don't own it myself, it's on our book list (which I recommend you check out), so it shouldn't be bad.

Note C++ isn't Java, so the libraries don't necessarily have the same functionality. Another resource you'll want to look at is Boost, which serves as a source for well-written C++ libraries for things the standard library lacks.