CODEWITHSUNDEEP
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iamnotevg
iamnotevg

Reputation: 27

Why are the begin and rbegin iterator types different in spelling?

std::list<std::string> list = {"Milton", "Shakespeare", "Austen"};
auto it_1 = list.begin(); // auto -> std::list<std::string>::iterator 
auto it_2 = list.rbegin(); // auto -> std::reverse_iterator<std::list<std::string>::iterator>
// std::list<std::string>::reverse_iterator it_3 = list.rbegin();

Please explain why the iterator type for begin() when using auto is different from the iterator type for rbegin()?

What is the understanding that the begin() iterator should have type std::list<std::string>::iterator and the rbegin() iterator should have type std::list<std::string>::reverse_iterator, but VS2022 suggests that rbegin()'s iterator type is not what I expected:

image

I expected it_2 to be the following type:

std::list<std::string>::reverse_iterator

Please explain what type it_2 actually hides?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 115

Answers (1)

Mooing Duck
Mooing Duck

Reputation: 66961

std::list<std::string>::reverse_iterator is required to be a typedef of std::reverse_iterator<std::list<std::string>::iterator>. This means that they are simply different names for the same class.

Upvotes: 1

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