Chapter Summary

The library defines several higher-level abstract data types, including strings and vectors. The string class provides variable-length character strings, and the vector type manages a collection of objects of a single type.

Iterators allow indirect access to objects stored in a container. Iterators are used to access and navigate between the elements in strings and vectors.

In the next chapter we'll cover arrays and pointers, which are types built into the language. These types provide low-level analogs to the vector and string libraries. In general, the library classes should be used in preference to low-level array and pointer alternatives built into the language.