Why is the code in most STL implementations so convoluted?

Question

The STL is a critical piece of the C++ world, most implementations derive from the initial efforts by Stepanov and Musser.

My question is given the criticality of the co

Answer 1

Implementations vary. libc++ for example, is much easier on the eyes. There's still a bit of underscore noise though. As others have noted, the leading underscores are unfortunately required. Here's the same function in libc++:

template 
bool
__next_permutation(_BidirectionalIterator __first, _BidirectionalIterator __last, _Compare __comp)
{
    _BidirectionalIterator __i = __last;
    if (__first == __last || __first == --__i)
        return false;
    while (true)
    {
        _BidirectionalIterator __ip1 = __i;
        if (__comp(*--__i, *__ip1))
        {
            _BidirectionalIterator __j = __last;
            while (!__comp(*__i, *--__j))
                ;
            swap(*__i, *__j);
            _STD::reverse(__ip1, __last);
            return true;
        }
        if (__i == __first)
        {
            _STD::reverse(__first, __last);
            return false;
        }
    }
}