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Summary

In this chapter, you learned the following concepts:

n The Standard Template Library (STL) is a powerful collection of programming code that provides containers, algorithms, and iterators.

n Containers are objects that let you store and access collections of values of the same type.

146 Chapter 4 n The Standard Template Library: Hangman


n Algorithms defined in the STL can be used with its containers and provide common functions for working with groups of objects.

n Iterators are objects that identify elements in containers and can be manipulated to move among elements.

n Iterators are the key to using containers to their fullest. Many of the container member functions require iterators, and the STL algorithms require them too.

n To get the value referenced by an iterator, you must dereference the iterator using the dereference operator (*).

n A vector is one kind of sequential container provided by the STL. It acts like a dynamic array.

n Its very efficient to iterate through a vector. Its also very efficient to insert or remove an element from the end of a vector.

n It can be inefficient to insert or delete elements from the middle of a vector, especially if the vector is large.

n Pseudocode, which falls somewhere between English and a programming language, is used to plan programs.

n Stepwise refinement is a process used to rewrite pseudocode to make it ready for implementation.