Programming Tips - What's your best C/C++ tip?

Date: 1997dec23 Language: C++ Q. What's your best C/C++ tip? A. If there's one single tip that I would give to a fellow C/C++ programmer... this is it: try out the Standard Template Library! Have you ever made a pointer mistake in a link list? Who hasn't? As you know, they'll cause memory leaks, crashes or both. I use link lists all the time and haven't had any problems like that for a couple years. Because, of course, I use the Standard Template Library (stl). The stl is for managing containers of things. e.g. link lists, arrays that can dynamically grow, stacks, queues, associative arrays (maps). You get the idea. MFC has some containing templates like CArray and CList. CArray isn't too bad but CList is nuts. If you are using MFC you can still use the stl. I do. Primarily written by Alexander Stepanoy who has working at HP. He has moved on to SGI so the site's there. To install with Borland C++ 4.52 unzip it in a new directory called C:\BC45\INCLUDE\STL. Then add this new directory to the include path for any project that uses it. http://www.sgi.com/Technology/STL/index.html http://www.davekb.com/search.php?target=STL