This manual is an introduction to the Rogue Wave implementation of the Standard C++ Library. It assumes that you are already familiar with the basics features of the C++ programming language. If you are new to C++ you may wish to examine an introductory text, such as the book The C++ Programming Language, by Bjarne Stroustrup (Addison-Wesley, 1991).
There is a classic "chicken-and-egg" problem associated with the container class portion of the standard library. The heart of the container class library is the definition of the containers themselves, but you can't really appreciate the utility of these structures without an understanding of the algorithms that so greatly extend their functionality. On the other hand, you can't really understand the algorithms without some appreciation of the containers.
Ideally, after reading Chapters 2, 3 and 4 carefully, Chapters 5 through 11 should be read simultaneously with chapters 12 and 13. Since that's not possible, simply skim over chapters 5 through 11 and chapters 12 and 13 to gain a superficial understanding of the overall structure, then go back and read them again in more detail.