There''s been some discussion about it (even a poll right here on GDNet). Since you seem to know what it is, I''ll just offer my opinion. When looking at the source in my compiler, I''ve come to the conlusion that STL has a relatively small footprint (it really isn''t that big) so you can use it without having to worry about too much of a speed decrease.

joeG

Well I guess the question is, what do you mean by useable in game programming...

I use STL and ATL both for apps, utils, and games. I will admit though that I''m am not making the latest Quake3 game either, so do with that info what you will.

However, it is a part of C++ and before everyone gets flame happy and this thread gets out of control some of the sticking points for using C++ over other languages is code re-useablitiy, manageability, and efficiency. I''m pretty much as hardcore C++ as you can get for seeing it as my primary language, albeit not my only one though, and though it''s not the best langauge for everything, I do find there is little I can''t do with it. Using STL adds little more overhead than using other aspects of C++ when used in an OOP and not C+ or C. It is true that you get the added overhead of more code instantiated at compile time in some ways you actually get efficiency performance over other ways you can use classes. So _my_opinion_ is this:

Use STL if it suits your needs, they''re great at redundency and complex data types and operations on them. When you get to a point where you can use them effectively, you''ll know when and when not to use them. There main purpose is to eliminate most of the redundancy programming you did when you were learning the nuances of the core language so that you could code the same kinds of algorithms they inherently provide. Just remember that it''s one more feature that allows you to do what every other feature does: yet one more way to flip a bit.

I hope my opinion didn''t ramble too far off topic.