Course Content
C++ Introduction
C++ Introduction
Understanding the Standard Library and Files in C++
Standard libraries are collections of prewritten, reusable code that simplify common programming tasks. They help developers save time by providing reliable, well-tested tools for building software.
These libraries are simply files that you can include in your project. Some handle basic tasks like input and output or string manipulation, while others are more specialized, such as those for networking or formatting data. Here are examples of some commonly used standard library headers:
iostream.h
iomanip.h
string.h
// Standard iostream objects -*- C++ -*- // Copyright (C) 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010 // Free Software Foundation, Inc. // // This file is part of the GNU ISO C++ Library. This library is free // software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the // terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the // Free Software Foundation; either version 3, or (at your option) // any later version. // This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, // but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of // MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the // GNU General Public License for more details. // Under Section 7 of GPL version 3, you are granted additional // permissions described in the GCC Runtime Library Exception, version // 3.1, as published by the Free Software Foundation. // You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License and // a copy of the GCC Runtime Library Exception along with this program; // see the files COPYING3 and COPYING.RUNTIME respectively. If not, see // <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. /** @file include/iostream * This is a Standard C++ Library header. */ // // ISO C++ 14882: 27.3 Standard iostream objects // #ifndef _GLIBCXX_IOSTREAM #define _GLIBCXX_IOSTREAM 1 #pragma GCC system_header #include <bits/c++config.h> #include <ostream> #include <istream> namespace std _GLIBCXX_VISIBILITY(default) { _GLIBCXX_BEGIN_NAMESPACE_VERSION /** * @name Standard Stream Objects * * The <iostream> header declares the eight <em>standard stream * objects</em>. For other declarations, see * http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/libstdc++/manual/bk01pt11ch24.html * and the @link iosfwd I/O forward declarations @endlink * * They are required by default to cooperate with the global C * library's @c FILE streams, and to be available during program * startup and termination. For more information, see the HOWTO * linked to above. */ //@{ extern istream cin; /// Linked to standard input extern ostream cout; /// Linked to standard output extern ostream cerr; /// Linked to standard error (unbuffered) extern ostream clog; /// Linked to standard error (buffered) #ifdef _GLIBCXX_USE_WCHAR_T extern wistream wcin; /// Linked to standard input extern wostream wcout; /// Linked to standard output extern wostream wcerr; /// Linked to standard error (unbuffered) extern wostream wclog; /// Linked to standard error (buffered) #endif //@} // For construction of filebuffers for cout, cin, cerr, clog et. al. static ios_base::Init __ioinit; _GLIBCXX_END_NAMESPACE_VERSION } // namespace #endif /* _GLIBCXX_IOSTREAM */
Why Use Standard Libraries?
Using a library is like writing a book with the help of a dictionary. Instead of explaining everything from scratch, you use existing terms to simplify the message.
This is exactly what libraries do in programming: they let you replace long, complex code with short, meaningful instructions. You can reduce hundreds of lines of manual logic to a single function call, improving both clarity and efficiency.
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