10.2. A First Look at the Algorithms

The library provides more than 100 algorithms. Fortunately, like the containers, the algorithms have a consistent architecture. Understanding this architecture makes learning and using the algorithms easier than memorizing all 100+ of them. In this chapter, we’ll illustrate how to use the algorithms, and describe the unifying principles that characterize them. Appendix A lists all the algorithms classified by how they operate.

With only a few exceptions, the algorithms operate over a range of elements. We’ll refer to this range as the “input range.” The algorithms that take an input range always use their first two parameters to denote that range. These parameters are iterators denoting the first and one past the last elements to process.

Although most algorithms are similar in that they operate over an input range, they differ in how they use the elements in that range. The most basic way to understand the algorithms is to know whether they read elements, write elements, or rearrange the order of the elements.