Rebuilding the C++ Standard Library from Scratch: The Pystd Project
2025-03-25
Tired of the C++ Standard Library's (STL) abysmal compile times and unreadability, a self-employed open-source developer decided to build a replacement from scratch: Pystd. Taking inspiration from the Python standard library, he incrementally implemented file handling, string manipulation, UTF-8 validation, hash maps, vectors, and sorting. The result? A functional application in under 1000 lines of code, comparable to the STL version. Pystd boasts significantly faster compilation and smaller executable sizes. A unique versioning scheme (e.g., pystd2025) ensures perfect ABI stability, easing future upgrades and maintenance.
Development
Standard Library