Q:

Should I learn to use the C++ STL containers instead of building them?

I've learned about data structures and algorithms in my university course and they taught us how to implement them. After reading some answers on SO and Quora, it seems that using the STL containers are recommended. 

A:

Unless you think you have a better knowledge of software engineering than the designers of the STL - or you have some very specific hardware requirements that they are unaware of

A:

As a software engineer/developer, you should know how a particular data structure works under the hood. and you should be able to customize/invent one when you need it. that's the reason they thought you so.
But generally you won't need to reinvent the wheel. so when there are tried and tested data structures available, like the std::stack, there's no need to do it again. specially because you'll have more bug issues in your implementation than those of STL or any other well designed one like Boost.

