Scott Meyers的新书 Effective STL: 提高STL使用技术的50招

Effective C++/More Effective C++的作者Scott Meyers即将推出最新力作：Effective STL, 该书目前已经完成，相信不久可以问世。但是与中国读者见面恐怕还是要在苦等之后。Addison=Wesley已经刊出了此书的页面。地址http://cseng.aw.com/book/toc/0,3830,0201749629,00.html

下面是该书的内容：
某些条款我基本可以理解，大部分知道应该如此，但不知其所以然，某些条款令我相当诧异，所以更希望能够早日拜读。我对于某些条款的感想用[]写在下面，我相信也是Meyers书中能够解释的东西。如果对于STL感兴趣的网友能够就这些条款展开讨论，我相信是非常有帮助的。

1. Containers

Item 1: Choose your containers with care.

Item 2: Beware the illusion of container-independent code.
        [值得注意的条款！]

Item 3: Make copying cheap and correct for objects in containers.
        [可以理解，可是如何做到cheap，哪些情况下容易作出不正确的copy操作？]

Item 4: Call empty instead of checking size against zero.
        [何故？]

Item 5: Prefer range member functions to their single-element counterparts.
        [何故？]

Item 6: Be alert for C++'s most vexing parse.
        [谈何容易！]

Item 7: When using containers of newed pointers, remember to delete the pointers before the container is destroyed.
        [可以理解]

Item 8: Never create containers of auto_ptrs.
        [可以理解]

Item 9: Choose carefully among erasing options.
        [非常令我感兴趣的条款]

Item 10: Be aware of allocator conventions and restrictions.
        [好深入的话题！]

Item 11: Understand the legitimate uses of custom allocators.
         [怎么做？我略知一二，希望强化这方面的知识]

Item 12: Have realistic expectations about the thread safety of STL containers.
         [呵呵，重要条款]

2. Vector and string.

Item 13: Prefer vector and string to dynamically allocated arrays.
         [对了，basic_string本身就是一个动态数组容器，大家别以为只有vector]

Item 14: Use reserve to avoid unnecessary reallocations.
         [太对了，vector一旦发现容量(capacity)不足，会以惊人的魄力re-allocate，
   要当心，不然很惨]

Item 15: Be aware of variations in string implementations.
         [愿洗耳恭听]

Item 16: Know how to pass vector and string data to legacy APIs.
         [Viva! I know a little bit about that..., but wait a minute, 根据我看
   Effective C++的经验，千万别以为你知道不少，Meyers会狠狠教训你，让你知道
   什么叫做井观天]

Item 17: Use "the swap trick" to trim excess capacity.
         [哈，我一点都不懂！]

Item 18: Avoid using vector.
         [惊诧！完全打击！我一直把vector当首选容器！Meyers，我希望你给我个
   不用vector的理由先]

3. Associative Containers.

Item 19: Understand the difference between equality and equivalence.
         [戳到死穴，真的不知道两者有何不同，马上查书去]

Item 20: Specify comparison types for associative containers of pointers.
         [嗯，有道理！]

Item 21: Always have comparison functions return false for equal values.
         [啊？又一个晴天霹雳！简直匪夷所思嘛！不过想想，啊，Meyers真伟大]

Item 22: Avoid in-place key modification in set and multiset.
         [不好意思，从来没正儿八经用过set]

Item 23: Consider replacing associative containers with sorted vectors.
         [好建议！]

Item 24: Prefer map::insert to map::operator[] when efficiency is a concern.
         [嘿嘿，虽然没仔细想过这个问题，但是我可是一直都使用insert的哟！道理吗， 好想知道那么一点点，不过还是谨慎点好，我怕Meyers又来敲我的头...]

Item 25: Familiarize yourself with the nonstandard hashed containers.
         [弱点！我还是快去补补课吧！]

4. Iterators.

Item 26: Prefer iterator to const_iterator, reverse_iterator, and const_reverse_iterator.
         [晴天霹雳3！不是说要尽可能地用const吗，怎么加了个下划线就不认帐了？不行， 您得给我讲清楚...]

Item 27: Use distance and advance to convert const_iterators to iterators.
         [丈二和尚]

Item 28: Understand how to use a reverse_iterator's base iterator.
         [更是连概念都搞不清楚了，reverse_iterator还有base iterator? 赶快去查查书]

Item 29: Consider istreambuf_iterators for character by character input.
         [唔，值得好好研究]

5. Algorithms.

Item 30: Make sure destination ranges are big enough.
         [应该是可以理解的吧！]

Item 31: Know your sorting options.
         [原则上理解]

Item 32: Follow remove-like algorithms by erase if you really want to remove something.
         [呵呵，又可以理解！]

Item 33: Be wary of remove-like algorithms on containers of pointers.
         [好险！这确实是个需要警惕的问题]

Item 34: Note which algorithms expect sorted ranges.
         [不太清楚...]

Item 35: Implement simple case-insensitive string comparisons via mismatch or lexicographical_compare.
         [不太清楚...]

Item 36: Use not1 and remove_copy_if to perform a copy_if.
         [以前在comp.lang.c++.moderated上读到过关于这个条款的故事，很精彩的！Scott Meyers 和Matt Austern都在这个问题上不小心栽了跟头，最后还是Bjarne Stroustrup一锤定音。等毕业论文改完了讲给大家听。]

Item 37: Use accumulate or for_each to summarize sequences
         [谨遵师命]

6. Functors, Functor Classes, Functions, etc.

Item 38: Design functor classes for pass-by-value.
         [概念上有点糊涂]

Item 39: Make predicates pure functions.
         [晴天霹雳4，Stroustrup不是说Functor可以产生更高效的inline代码吗？为什么predications要例外呢? 俺要个说法。]

Item 40: Make functor classes adaptable.
         [这个问题跟条款36相关的，看来Meyers真的从copy_if的教训中挖掘出不少宝藏]

Item 41: Understand the reasons for ptr_fun, mem_fun, and mem_fun_ref.
         [表面上是know了，但是老也想不起用它们来，说明还没有understand]

Item 42: Make sure less means operator<.
         [从来没想到过这个问题有什么重要性]

7. Programming with the STL.

Item 43: Prefer algorithm calls to hand-written loops.
         [我虽然从来都是如此这般作，却不知出了使自己的代码看起来更须cool以外还有什么别的道理]

Item 44: Prefer member functions to algorithms with the same names.
         [算不上是晴天霹雳，但也很出乎我的意料，我一直以用纯algorithms操作contain为荣]

Item 45: Distinguish among count, find, binary_search, lower_bound, upper_bound, and equal_range.
         [好像略知一二]

Item 46: Consider function objects instead of functions as algorithm parameters.
         [这跟条款39不矛盾吗？]

Item 47: Avoid producing write-only code.
         [不懂]

Item 48: Always #include the proper headers.

Item 49: Learn to decipher STL-related compiler diagnostics.
         [谈何容易，尤其是VC]

Item 50: Familiarize yourself with STL-related web sites.
         [知道一些，还不令我满意]