Implementing custom STL-like data structures

Question

I have already implemented and tested the data structure and would now like to make it compatible with the collection of STL algorithms. Guidelines for implementing a custom iterator and the like. Specifically:

What is the minimum set of operations that must be supported? (e.g. ++, +=, ==, !=?)
Are there any properties of these operations that algorithms expect?

Ideally, these answers would be part of a bigger reference for implementing a STL-compatible data structure, but I'm not sure that such a document exists.

James McNellis · Accepted Answer · 2010-06-20 02:33:12Z

5

You should consult the SGI STL documentation. It has detailed requirements for each of the STL components, including containers and iterators.

Effectively, for iterators, there are various types--input iterators, output iterators, forward iterators, bidirectional iterators, and random-access iterators. The specification for each algorithm indicates the type of iterator required.

answered Jun 20, 2010 at 2:33

James McNellis

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2 Comments

Matthieu M. Over a year ago

Indeed, the categorization on the SGI STL site is really worth referring to. Another option being (when creating a drop-in replacement) to simply provide the same interface as the container being replaced.

Aldarrion Over a year ago

Unfortunately, the linked documentation is no longer available. Is there any other such source?

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