Explore the full potential of C++ by mastering the standard library.

Become a C++ Programmer

The C++ standard library is a collection of all the tools and utilities available in C++. It received its latest update in 2017, known as C++17. The update introduces many new features that further optimize our code. This module will help us fully grasp C++ and use it to its full potential.

C++ Standard Library

A [string](http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/string/basic_string) is a sequence of characters. C++ has many methods to analyze or to change a string. C++ strings are the safe replacement for C Strings: `const char*`. Strings need the header `<string>`. 

><span>ℹ️</span> **A string is very similar to an std::vector**
>
> A string is similar to an `std::vector` containing characters. It supports a very similar interface. This means that in addition to the methods of the string class, we can access the [algorithms of the Standard Template Library](https://www.educative.io/courses/cpp-fundamentals-for-professionals/introduction-xV7O9x2X3Lr) to work with the string.
>
>The following code snippet has the variable `std::string name` with the value `RainerGrimm`. We have used the STL algorithm `std::find_if` to get the upper letter and then extract my first and last name into the variables `firstName` and `lastName`. The expression `name.begin()+1` shows that strings support random access iterators: 
>```C++
>
>//string versus vector
>...
>#include <algorithm>
>#include <string>
>
>std::string name{"RainerGrimm"};
>auto strIt= std::find_if(name.begin()+1, name.end(),
>                          [](char c){ return std::isupper(c); });
>if (strIt != name.end()){
>   firstName= std::string(name.begin(), strIt);
>   lastName= std::string(strIt, name.end());
>}
>```

Strings are class templates parametrized by their character, their character trait and their allocator. The character trait and the allocator have defaults.   

In this chapter, we'll explore one of the most prominent classes in C++: Strings. 
Let's begin!

Introduction