Problem solving in C++ with STL

Question

I am preparing for a programming competition in witch we solve programming problems in c++.

Looking at the former year solutions, they seem quite easy (not more than ~30 lines of code). I realised that they are widely using the STL for easy manipulating - vectors, sets, maps, lists and also the algorithms available in STL.

Any site for beginners like me who want to learn the features of STL and its use in solving problems ?

Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

Two books come to mind: Josuttis's The C++ Standard Library (and his page for it), and Meyers's Effective STL

Answer 2

As well as Scott Meyer's excellent book "Effective STL" which has been recommended above, I can't recommend highly enough the excellent book Accelerated C++ by Andrew Koenig and Barbara E. Moo.

The book starts by having you use STL very early in the book explaining their uses in the context of initially simple problems. This book treats C++ as its own language and not as C with bits bolted on, the mechanics of defining a class aren't explained until later in the book.

Answer 3

If you have some conception of non-STL C++ and specifically need to understand how STL's approaches correspond to non-STL ones, I recommend this tutorial.