>For instance, will copy memory into a std::vector or std::string just to use the STLs search functions where a simple finite state machine would be more approp

>For instance, will copy memory into a std::vector or std::string just to use the STLs search functions where a simple finite state machine would be more appropriate. The STL was specifically designed so that pointers are iterators and you are able to pass a pair of pointers to pretty much any STL algorithm. This you should never need to copy memory into a container such a vector or string to be able to use the STL algorithms.