title: Does a C++ standard library have to be written in C or assembly?
body: <p>Is it possible to write the complete C++ standard library (including STL of course, but self-contained, only internal dependencies) using only C++? I would imagine containers and <code>&lt;cstdlib&gt;</code> functionality would be doable in terms of <code>char</code>s, bitshifts, and for loops and other byte fancy things, but stuff like exceptions and perhaps <code>std::cout</code> and <code>std::cin</code> seem hard to me without a dependency to begin with. Let's say there is a set of OS functions available, that are completely implemented in assembly (to avoid any C contamination).</p>
  
  <p>I'm assuming the compiler understands everything from classes and virtual functions to templates and function overloading, these are language level things and have no place in a library IMHO.</p>
  
  <p>If this has been asked before or is a trivially stupid question, please forgive me. I'm not trying to start a C&lt;->C++ war here, just trying to figure out the limitations of implementing a beast such as the Standard library...</p>
  
  <p>Thanks!</p>