Question: I've seen various approaches in other languages for how to do this, but it seems like a common enough problem that it seems like there should be a standard way to do this.

I want to collapse a list of float ranges to its smallest representation.

2.45-3.72
3.16-6.55
7.23-8.96
8.95-10.27

would become:

2.45-6.55
7.23-10.27

Is there a function or library in C++ somewhere that I can give my list to, and it will perform the reduction for me? I could easily write my own, but why bother if it already exists?

Answer: 
Boost has an [interval library](http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_45_0/libs/numeric/interval/doc/interval.htm). This doesn't explicitly contain exactly what you need, but might make it easier to write it.

Personally, looking at the documentation, it worries me that the library does not attempt to let you clearly distinguish between closed and open intervals. But this may not be important for your purpose.
I don't think there will be any solution provided by the Standard, it's way too specific.