C++ STL List Implementation

This project implements a custom list container in C++ that uses a doubly-linked list as its underlying data structure. The implementation follows the interface of std::list while providing a robust foundation for list operations with comprehensive memory management.

Overview

The custom list is implemented through a template class with an underlying Node structure that supports bidirectional linking. Key features include:

• Template-based implementation supporting any data type
• Custom allocator support
• Doubly-linked structure with previous and next pointers
• Memory-efficient node management
• Support for both copy and move semantics
• STL-compatible iterator implementation

Class Structure

list<T, A>

The main list class template with two parameters:

• T: Type of elements stored in the list
• A: Allocator type (defaults to std::allocator)

Node

Internal node structure containing:

• data: The stored element
• pNext: Pointer to the next node
• pPrev: Pointer to the previous node

iterator

Custom bidirectional iterator class supporting:

• Forward and backward traversal
• Standard iterator operations (++, --, *, ==, !=)
• STL container compatibility

List Operations

The implementation includes standard list operations:

Element Access

• front(): Access first element
• back(): Access last element

Modifiers

• push_front(): Insert element at beginning
• push_back(): Insert element at end
• pop_front(): Remove first element
• pop_back(): Remove last element
• insert(): Insert element at position
• erase(): Remove element at position
• clear(): Remove all elements
• swap(): Exchange contents with another list

Capacity

• empty(): Check if list is empty
• size(): Get number of elements

Construction/Assignment

• Default constructor
• Size constructor
• Range constructor
• Copy constructor
• Move constructor
• Initializer list constructor
• Assignment operators (copy, move, initializer list)

Usage Example

#include "list.h"

// Create a list of integers
custom::list<int> myList;

// Add elements
myList.push_back(1);
myList.push_front(0);
myList.push_back(2);

// Iterate through the list
for (auto it = myList.begin(); it != myList.end(); ++it)
    std::cout << *it << " ";

// Use range-based for loop
for (const auto& item : myList)
    std::cout << item << " ";

Memory Management

• Efficient node allocation using custom allocator support
• Proper cleanup in destructors and clear operations
• Prevention of memory leaks in all operations
• Exception-safe operations

Files

• list.h: Main list implementation with Node and iterator classes
• Unit tests (not included in repository)

Building

The project includes Visual Studio solution files for building on Windows. Open LabList.sln and build using Visual Studio 2019 or later.

Notes

• This is an educational implementation demonstrating list container concepts
• The implementation closely follows the std::list interface
• Special attention is paid to memory management and exception safety
• Supports both forward and backward traversal through bidirectional iterators

License

This code is provided for educational purposes. See included license file for terms of use.

Authors

Nathan Bird
nathanbirdka@gmail.com

Brock Hoskins