Does the STL contain a hashtable?

Current standard implementation doesn't, STL::TR1 does, see Unordered Map.

Most modern compilers have a TR1 implementation, if that fails, you may always use the Boost TR1 implementation.

• MSVC has it for VS2008 via service pack 1
• GCC has it shipped with 4.x, but you can make it work with 3.4.x too AFAIR

Usage is almost the same as with a std::map.

While not officially part of the STL standard, hash_map and hash_set are commonly used to improve searching times......

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0d462wfh%28VS.80%29.aspx

So, long story short--no .

A quick google came up with this description of hash_map.