STL

STL most commonly refers to the Standard Template Library, a foundational collection of C++ template classes and functions that implement common data structures and algorithms. It is part of the C++ Standard Library and emphasizes generic programming and efficiency.

Origins and design: Developed in the 1990s by Alexander Stepanov and others at Hewlett-Packard, the STL influenced the evolution of the standard library components. It provides templates that enable algorithms to operate on any compatible container, and it uses iterators to traverse data, enabling code reuse across different data structures.

Main components: The library includes containers (such as vector, list, deque, set, map, and their unordered variants), iterators, algorithms, function objects, and allocators. It also offers adaptors such as stack, queue, and priority_queue, and supports a broad set of algorithms like sort, find, copy, transform, and numerous numeric operations. The interface is built around generic programming and aims for zero-overhead abstractions.

Usage notes: Programs include header files such as <vector>, <map>, and <algorithm>, and rely on templates to instantiate types. Algorithms operate on ranges defined by iterators, enabling reuse across different containers. The STL is designed to be efficient and type-safe, though heavy template usage can affect compile times and error messages can be complex.

STL can also refer to the STL file format, a de facto standard for 3D printing that describes a object’s surface geometry as a mesh of triangles. STL files come in ASCII or binary formats and do not convey color, texture, or other attributes. This file format is unrelated to the C++ Standard Template Library.