Rating: 
Summary: Not quite up to the standards of Effective C++
Review: I was very pleased to see this book come out as I am a huge fan of Meyers' Effective C++ and More Effective C++. Both of those books offer many concrete suggestions on how to improve your C++ coding and do things you didn't think you could do. Effective STL, on the other hand, offers mainly suggestions of what not to do. You'll find most of the items tell you that you should not use a specific technique because it is not portable, not a clean design, or simply because it will not work.All of this is good to know, but I didn't find it as useful as his other two Effective books. Other than the use of the built in looping functions like for_each the book didn't really provide me with many new "tricks" for my "bag." However, all the information in the book is useful, and the intermediate level STL programmer will probably learn a lot of ways to avoid problems by reading this book. Hopefully there will be a second edition in the future that will give the book a little more utility.
Rating: 
Summary: An awesome STL book
Review: I wish I had read this book since the first day I started to use STL. This book covers STL in a depth and width which no other STL books have reached. It is concise, but very clear and comprehensive. Not only does it talk about how to choose from different containers, algorithms, it also thoroguhly explains things, for example, binary_search, equal_range, mem_fun, mem_fun_ref, which other documents talk very little. You may find other books or articles talking about the similiar thing, but not to the depth and width this book reaches.
Rating:
Summary: improved my code immediately
Review: I'm a professional software engineer. I write code all day long and have lots of experience with C++, but I hadn't used STL much until recently. If you're in a similar situation--decent C++ knowledge but not an STL expert--this book is for you. I haven't even read the whole thing yet, and already I am using patterns from the book to write more effective code.
Before I started this book, I thought STL was kind of neat. It had some useful containers. It was nice to be able to use a list or map or string class that had already been tested.
Boy, was I underestimating the power of STL. This book has made me a big STL fan, but I'm not reviewing the STL now so I'll leave that topic alone... Thanks to Steve Meyers, I have a much better grasp of the capabilities and limitations of STL. I can use it to do a lot more. I write more concise code that's easier to read and debug. I make better choices about which containers to use. I recognize situations where I can use an STL algorithm instead of many lines of my own code.
In short, I look at the STL code I wrote before and laugh... I mean, it all works, but the Meyers book has taken my use of (and appreciation for) the STL to a whole new level. I recommend this book for any C++ developer who isn't already an STL expert.
Rating:
Summary: If you know what "STL" stands for, you NEED this book
Review: I'm not a professional programmer, but I play one on... Okay, I admit I'm a pretender. I code when I need to, not as an end in and of itself. When I put digits to keyboard, C++ is my language of choice, but often things aren't as clear as they should be...like STL. You gotta love it. Somebody finally comes up with a standardized container library for C++, and it proves to be difficult to do anything but the most basic "stuff it" and "get it" operations...and getting it is sometimes not guaranteed. Along comes Scott Meyers and Effective STL with 50 specific recommendations on using the STL. Bless you, man...I mean it. This book clears up many misconceptions about the STL and will tidy up your code. It will make you wiser, help you to do things with STL that you didn't even know were possible, and may even make STL...fun (shhhh!). Its like a slap to the face. It will pull you out of your catatonic state and make you...effective. So put down the keyboard, stop fondling your mouse, and go read a book. If you know what "STL" stands for, you need this one.
Rating:
Summary: If you know what "STL" stands for, you NEED this book
Review: I'm not a professional programmer, but I play one on... Okay, I admit I'm a pretender. I code when I need to, not as an end in and of itself. When I put digits to keyboard, C++ is my language of choice, but often things aren't as clear as they should be...like STL. You gotta love it. Somebody finally comes up with a standardized container library for C++, and it proves to be difficult to do anything but the most basic "stuff it" and "get it" operations...and getting it is sometimes not guaranteed. Along comes Scott Meyers and Effective STL with 50 specific recommendations on using the STL. Bless you, man...I mean it. This book clears up many misconceptions about the STL and will tidy up your code. It will make you wiser, help you to do things with STL that you didn't even know were possible, and may even make STL...fun (shhhh!). Its like a slap to the face. It will pull you out of your catatonic state and make you...effective. So put down the keyboard, stop fondling your mouse, and go read a book. If you know what "STL" stands for, you need this one.
Rating:
Summary: Ideal Format by the Ideal Author
Review: If I had a choice only one STL book, I would pick this one
even over Josuttis's "Standard C++ Library". Enough said. Scott Meyers is a not only a great C++ expositor, but he's convinced me that his format i.e
a technical subject presented thematically, and under each
theme chapters are closely related, with liberal cross referencing,
is the best way to enlighten a complex subject. I hope more authors take his cue and produce similar works.
Rating:
Summary: A must-read for anyone considering using the STL
Review: If you aren't yet convinced that the STL can help you write better C++, I would seriously consider buying and reading this book cover-to-cover. I had heard that STL implementations were far from standard and many people even told me to avoid it entirely. From the very first page of this book, Scott's enthusiasm for the STL was apparent. By the time I finished the book, my own views on STL had changed entirely. There are plenty of tips and tricks in this book, but more importantly it will show you how to think about using the STL. It's not just the "use std::vector instead of dynamically allocated arrays" that's important, but "the notion of a vector is one that you need not reinvent each time you sit down to code!!". In some sense I have started to see the STL as the lowest common denominator in a great deal of my code, since a lot of it reduces down to a combination of containers, iterators and basic algorithms. For those of you using Microsoft's Visual C++ 6 or earlier, there is also a great Appendix about the shortcomings in your STL library and several ways to remedy them.
Rating:
Summary: A must-have for C++ programmers
Review: If you're a C++ programmer who has never used STL, or if you've ever programmed using STL and you've only read documentation on what STL containers and algorithms do (as opposed to how to use them), you must get this book and read it. Your natural inclination as a C++ programmer will prevent you from getting the most from STL. Every one of the 50 items in this book are helpful, and they are often written in a humorous manner, which makes it a very enjoyable (and informative) read. Lots of STL books tell you what STL containers and algorithms do. Scott teaches you (at least) two things that are hard to get in other books: 1) How the STL containers work and 2) How to best use them for your purposes. If you've ever stared at a 2,000 character error message from STL and just shook your head, if you hand-write loops for simple container operations, if you ever wondered whether you need to write a custom allocator, you need this book. Just by reading and understanding about 1/2 of the items in this book, my knowledge of STL has increased tenfold, and the enjoyable style of the writing made it fun!
Rating:
Summary: Code readability
Review: OK, this is not going to be really deep or anything but is anybody else annoyed by the choice of the typeface used to print code samples in? Why, oh why didn't the publisher use a Courier font or something like the font used in Stroustrup's C++ book? The code does not stand out enough against the main text - a small thing but a bit of a letdown.
Rating:
Summary: Meets the promise in it's title...
Review: Outside of Meyers Effective C++ CD, the best programming resource I have purchased for a long time. Should Meyers ever give up on C++, he has a career in comedy based upon his informative, yet humourous writing style. The mark of a good "how to"/"improvement" book: Uptake of the techniques explained. Meyers makes the STL far clearer to the readers than the C++ standardisation committee ever did!
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