news:c61f3dcd-ab9e-44bb-afcf-4c9ab653f45a@p11g2000yqe.googlegroups.com...
"Noah Roberts" <n...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:49c268a6$0$29975$cc2e38e6@news.uslec.net...
The STL component of the standard library is actually the best thing
about
it. That whole style of programming is quite effective and represents
some of the best in system design. The STL is well worth studying as an
example of great style and design.
Was STL the first to introduce the concept of algorithms working on
containers via iterators? If so, then your last statement, though a bit
strong, has some merit (there are other simpler ways that may be
appropriate
for a given project and variations on the theme also). If it wasn't the
first to introduce that architecture, then I say the kudos belongs
somewhere
else. The implementation, of course, is too obfuscated and complex to be
of
"great style and design" even if the algo-iterator-container was first
used
in STL (which I doubt, but I can't remember the early stuff anymore, say
Roque-Wave pre-template version, or Borland BIDS, e.g.).