Book Image

C++ Fundamentals

By : Antonio Mallia, Francesco Zoffoli
Book Image

C++ Fundamentals

By: Antonio Mallia, Francesco Zoffoli

Overview of this book

C++ Fundamentals begins by introducing you to the C++ compilation model and syntax. You will then study data types, variable declaration, scope, and control flow statements. With the help of this book, you'll be able to compile fully working C++ code and understand how variables, references, and pointers can be used to manipulate the state of the program. Next, you will explore functions and classes — the features that C++ offers to organize a program — and use them to solve more complex problems. You will also understand common pitfalls and modern best practices, especially the ones that diverge from the C++98 guidelines. As you advance through the chapters, you'll study the advantages of generic programming and write your own templates to make generic algorithms that work with any type. This C++ book will guide you in fully exploiting standard containers and algorithms, understanding how to pick the appropriate one for each problem. By the end of this book, you will not only be able to write efficient code but also be equipped to improve the readability, performance, and maintainability of your programs.
Table of Contents (9 chapters)
C++ Fundamentals
Preface

Iterators


In this chapter, we've mentioned multiple times that elements have a position in a container: for example, we said that we can insert an element in a specific position in a list.

Iterators are the way in which the position of an element in a container is represented.

They provide a consistent way to operate on elements of the container, abstracting the details of the container to which the elements belong.

An iterator always belongs to a range. The iterator representing the start of the range, can be accessed by the begin() function, while the iterator representing the end of the range, non-inclusive, can be obtained with the end() function. The range where the first element is included, but where the last one is excluded, is referred to as half-open.

The interface that the iterator must offer is composed of four functions:

  1. The * operator provides access to the element at the position currently referenced by the iterator.

  2. The ++ operator is used to move forward to the next element.

  3. Then...