New to c++; Need help with common Libraries and Functions

Hi, I am new to C++ but have experience in other languages (PHP, Javascript, Java). What I am interested in doing is learning of the most commonly used functions in C++. I know that this sounds vague, and can be arbitrary to what your trying to accomplish, but I will try to give a good example. For instance, built-in or library functions that are used on arrays, pointers, functions, classes, and data types. Functions that will return information about those things (Length, Values, data type used, etc..). I know that C++ is a different beast than PHP or Java, so I am still getting down the ins and outs of the libraries that C++ offers. Any guidance on this subject is greatly appreciated.

Thank You

The C++ standard library is your first stop. Consult your compiler's documentation, or get Nicolai Josutti's "The C++ Standard Library: A Tutorial and Reference". Note that it is far less extensive than PHP or Java's libraries.

Then there are 3rd party libraries. Boost is a collection of very interesting libraries. Some other good C++ libraries are ACE (networking mostly, but a lot for multithreading too), Qt (GUI, and everything else too) and wxWidgets (like Qt).

learning the libraries ahead of time is boring and really doesn't help unless you have perfect memory. wait until you have a specific need and then figure out what library does what you want. :)

You might probably want to start from a standard library reference (and some resources explaining the basics of C++).

Quote:

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Functions that will return information about those things (Length, Values, data type used, etc..)

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I'm afraid C++ is statically typed, so that information is all already there in the code. Normally you can't get that info (in a way that you can use it for something useful) and don't need it.

Only in template context you may sometimes need to get some type information. For that, containers for example have several typedefs, e.g

Code:

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#include <vector>
template <class Container>
void foo(const Container& container)
{
  //declare a variable that has the same type that the container holds
  typename Container::value_type var;
}

int main()
{
    std::vector<int> vec;
    foo(vec); //var in foo will be int in this case
}

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Also, iterators have means to find out what types they are for, e.g

Code:

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#include <iterator>

template <class Iterator>
void foo(Iterator it)
{
  //declare a variable that has the same type as the iterator iterates over
  typename std::iterator_traits<Iterator>::value_type var;
}

int main()
{
    const char* p = "Hello world";
    foo(p); //var should be of type char
}

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A newbie will not need type information, however. They're mostly useful when you do meta-template-programming. Quite an advanced subject.
Although even C++ is statically typed, it's quite possible to get around and bend that system quite much, especially with templates.

Thank you gals and guys for your advice on this subject.