Collection Classes
Introduction
The Essential Tools Module includes four collection class groups:
Traditional Collection Classes let you work with items such as bit vectors, singly and doubly linked lists, vectors of values or pointers, parameterized queues, and stacks.STL-based Collection Classes let you work with things such as pointer-based collections of values, the iterator interface to the Standard Library-based collections, pointer-based collections of associations of key/value pairs, and so on.STL Extension-based Collection Classes extend the functionality of the C++ Standard Library by letting you work with things such as collections of key/value pairs implemented as hash tables, lists, and so on.RWCollectable Classes (Smalltalk-like collections) inherit from RWCollectable and contain virtual functions for storing and retrieving, identifying, hashing, and comparing collectable objects.Despite their different implementations, the functionality and user interfaces (member function names, etc.) of these collection class groups are similar.
This chapter provides information to help you work with collection classes in any of the collection class groups.
This chapter
Lists the collection classes in each of the class groups, in Collection Class Groups.Explains basic concepts of collection classes, and translates some of the jargon you may encounter here and in the literature of C++, starting in Storage Methods of Collection Classes.Explains collection class templates, starting in Collection Class Templates.Explains how to design and create your own RWCollectable classes and explains the Smalltalk-like collection classes, starting in Designing an RWCollectable Class.
