C++ In a Nutshell

<algorithm>

The <algorithm> header declares the generic algorithm function templates for operating on iterators and other objects. Refer to Chapter 10 for more information about using and writing generic algorithms and about the iterators they use. See Chapter 8 for a discussion of iterator traits.

Note

If you are at all confused by the removal algorithms (such as pop_heap, remove, and unique), be sure to read Chapter 10 first.

This section uses a number of abbreviations and conventions. First, each algorithm is described using plain English. Then, a more mathematical description of the algorithm, which tends to be harder to read, is given in a “Technical Notes” section.

The names of the template parameters tell you which category of iterator is expected. The iterator category is the minimal functionality needed, so you can, for example, use a random access iterator where at least a forward iterator is needed. (See Chapter 10 for more information on iterators and iterator categories.) To keep the syntax summaries short and readable, the iterator categories are abbreviated, as shown in Table 13-1.

Table 13-1. Template parameter names for iterator categories

Parameter name	Iterator category
BidiIter	Bidirectional iterator
FwdIter	Forward iterator
InIter	Input iterator
OutIter	Output iterator
RandIter	Random access iterator

Other template parameter names are chosen to be self-explanatory. For example, any name that ends in Predicate is a function that returns a Boolean result (which can be ...