Is std::string part of the STL?

Question

^{(When I say STL, I\'m talking about the template library that revolves around containers, iterators, algorithms and functors.)}
This question came to mind afte

Answer 1

No, not really. And yes, kind of.

There are varying definitions of "the STL", including:

• The actual HP/SGI STL, the original library, parts of which the C++ Standard Library was based on. They included containers, iterators and algorithms. Strings were not a part of this.

• The parts of the C++ Standard Library that were based on the SGI STL library: containers, iterators and algorithms. Still no strings.

• All of the C++ Standard Library. This definition has absolutely no grounding in logic or reality though, if followed, std::string would be included.

Note that the actual STL has developed since C++ was standardised (some 13 years ago, remember), and they've backwards-adopted some of the stuff that went into the standard, like strings. This does not mean that they were originally there in 1998... but they are there now for "compatibility" reasons.

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Summary

The STL was containers, algorithms and iterators.

Strings and streams were adopted for C++98, then backwards-adopted for the modern SGI STL.

Whether strings are "part of the STL" or not depends on whether you follow logic and reason, or call the standard library "STL".

Hope this helps.