Given that the C++ language, and especially its standard library, has grown so much since the second edition of the book, did new pedagogical challenges arise?
Stroustrup: Certainly, but the standard library is also a major pedagogical opportunity. Relying on the standard library allows me to present much better examples early on, and to postpone the discussion of trickier language features until the reader can be assumed to have a bit more experience with C++. For example, the standard library vector and list are far easier to understand and use than the built-in array type and the pointer operations needed to do the equivalent vector and list manipulation without a standard. Having the standard library available allows me to present arrays and pointers as implementation details of higher-level concepts. Explaining the standard library in detail is a challenge. I present the key ideas and facilities early on so that people can use them, and then go into significant detail later on. In all, the book must have about 300 pages related to the standard library. That library is not just useful, it is also a mine of examples of useful design and pr
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