C++ – increment an iterator by just adding a number

c++iterator

Can I do normal computations with iterators, i.e. just increment it by adding a number?

As an example, if I want to remove the element vec[3], can I just do this:

std::vector<int> vec;
for(int i = 0; i < 5; ++i){
      vec.push_back(i);
}
vec.erase(vec.begin() + 3); // removes vec[3] element

It works for me (g++), but I'm not sure if it is guaranteed to work.

Best Solution

It works if the iterator is a random access iterator, which vector's iterators are (see reference). The STL function std::advance can be used to advance a generic iterator, but since it doesn't return the iterator, I tend use + if available because it looks cleaner.

C++11 note

Now there is std::next and std::prev, which do return the iterator, so if you are working in template land you can use them to advance a generic iterator and still have clean code.

Related Solutions

Python – Build a basic Python iterator

Iterator objects in python conform to the iterator protocol, which basically means they provide two methods: __iter__() and __next__().

The __iter__ returns the iterator object and is implicitly called at the start of loops.
The __next__() method returns the next value and is implicitly called at each loop increment. This method raises a StopIteration exception when there are no more value to return, which is implicitly captured by looping constructs to stop iterating.

Here's a simple example of a counter:

class Counter:
    def __init__(self, low, high):
        self.current = low - 1
        self.high = high

    def __iter__(self):
        return self

    def __next__(self): # Python 2: def next(self)
        self.current += 1
        if self.current < self.high:
            return self.current
        raise StopIteration


for c in Counter(3, 9):
    print(c)

This will print:

This is easier to write using a generator, as covered in a previous answer:

def counter(low, high):
    current = low
    while current < high:
        yield current
        current += 1

for c in counter(3, 9):
    print(c)

The printed output will be the same. Under the hood, the generator object supports the iterator protocol and does something roughly similar to the class Counter.

David Mertz's article, Iterators and Simple Generators, is a pretty good introduction.

C++ – Obtain an index into a vector using Iterators

If you're planning on using exclusively a vector, you may want to switch back to the indexed loop, since it conveys your intent more clearly than iterator-loop. However, if evolution of your program in the future may lead to a change of container, you should stick to the iterators and use std::distance, which is guaranteed to work with all standard iterators.

Best Solution

Related Solutions

Python – Build a basic Python iterator

C++ – Obtain an index into a vector using Iterators

Related Question