COMP6771 Week 7.2

Custom Iterators

Iterator revision

  • Iterator is an abstract notion of a pointer
  • Iterators are types that abstract container data as a sequence of objects
    • The glue between containers and algorithms
      • Designers of algorithms don't care about details about data structures
      • Designers of data structures don't have to provide extensive access operations
std::vector v{1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
++(*v.begin()); // vector<int>'s non-const iterator
*v.begin(); // vector<int>'s const iterator
v.cbegin(); // vector<int>'s const iterator

Iterator invalidation

  • Iterator is an abstract notion of a pointer
  • What happens when we modify the container?
    • What happens to iterators?
    • What happens to references to elements?
  • Using an invalid iterator is undefined behaviour
std::vector v{1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
// Copy all 2s
for (auto it = v.begin(); it != v.end(); ++it) {
  if (*it == 2) {
    v.push_back(2);
  }
}
// Erase all 2s
for (auto it = v.begin(); it != v.end(); ++it) {
  if (*it == 2) {
    v.erase(it);
  }
}

Iterator invalidation - push_back

  • Think about the way a vector is stored
  • "If the new size() is greater than capacity() then all iterators and references (including the past-the-end iterator) are invalidated. Otherwise only the past-the-end iterator is invalidated."
std::vector v{1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
// Copy all 2s
for (auto it = v.begin(); it != v.end(); ++it) {
  if (*it == 2) {
    v.push_back(2);
  }
}

https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/container/vector/push_back

Iterator invalidation - erase

  • "Invalidates iterators and references at or after the point of the erase, including the end() iterator."
  • For this reason, erase returns a new iterator
std::vector v{1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
// Erase all even numbers (C++11 and later)
for (auto it = v.begin(); it != v.end(); ) {
  if (*it % 2 == 0) {
    it = v.erase(it);
  } else {
    ++it;
  }
}

https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/container/vector/erase

Iterator invalidation - general

  • Containers generally don't invalidate when you modify values
  • But they may invalidate when removing or adding elements
  • std::vector invalidates everything when adding elements
  • std::unordered_(map/set) invalidates everything when adding elements
  • std::map/set does not invalidate iterators upon insertion (why?)

Iterator traits

  • Each iterator has certain properties
    • Category (input, output, forward, bidirectional, random-access)
    • Value type (T)
    • Reference Type (T& or const T&)
    • Pointer Type (T* or T* const)
      • Not strictly required
    • Difference Type (type used to count how far it is between iterators)
  • When writing your own iterator, you need to tell the compiler what each of these are

Iterator requirements

A custom iterator class should look, at minimum, like this

class Iterator {
 public:
  using iterator_category = std::forward_iterator_tag;
  using value_type = T;
  using reference = T&;
  using pointer = T*; // Not strictly required, but nice to have.
  using difference_type = int;

  reference operator*() const;
  Iterator& operator++();
  Iterator operator++(int) {
    auto copy{*this};
    ++(*this);
    return copy;
  }
  // This one isn't strictly required, but it's nice to have.
  pointer operator->() const { return &(operator*()); }

  friend bool operator==(const Iterator& lhs, const Iterator& rhs) { ... };
  friend bool operator!=(const Iterator& lhs, const Iterator& rhs) { return !(lhs == rhs); }
};

Container requirements

  • All a container needs to do is to allow std::[cr]begin / std::[cr]end
    • This allows use in range-for loops, and std algorithms
  • Easiest way is to define begin/end/cbegin/cend methods
  • By convention, we also define a type Container::[const_]iterator
class Container {
  // Make the iterator using one of these by convention.
  class iterator {...};
  using iterator = ...;

  // Need to define these.
  iterator begin();
  iterator end();

  // If you want const iterators (hint: you do), define these.
  const_iterator begin() const { return cbegin(); }
  const_iterator cbegin() const;
  const_iterator end() const { return cend(); }
  const_iterator cend() const;
};

Dissecting IntStack

  • The iterator traits
  • The overloaded operators (*, ->)
  • The equality operators
  • The constructor (default to nullptr)
  • The private data
    • The iterator is defined inside the class, so gets access to private data
    • Iterator defines the container as a friend class for the constructors
  • Key points in the List Class:
    • begin() – returns an Iterator object
    • end() – returns an Iterator object (with nullptr as private data)
  • Note: The Iterator Class does not modify the List/Node data except through returning references.

Custom bidirectional iterators

  • Need to define operator--() on your iterator
    • Need to move from c.end() to the last element
      • c.end() can't just be nullptr
  • Need to define the following on your container:
class Container {
  // Make the iterator
  class reverse_iterator {...};
  // or
  using reverse_iterator = ...;

  // Need to define these.
  reverse_iterator rbegin();
  reverse_iterator rend();

  // If you want const reverse iterators (hint: you do), define these.
  const_reverse_iterator rbegin() const { return crbegin(); }
  const_reverse_iterator crbegin();
  const_reverse_iterator rend() const { return crend(); }
  const_reverse_iterator crend() const;
};

Automatic reverse iterators

  • Reverse iterators can be created by std::reverse_iterator
    • Requires a bidirectional iterator
  • You should be able to just copy-and-paste the following code
class Container {
  // Make the iterator using these.
  using reverse_iterator = std::reverse_iterator<iterator>;
  using const_reverse_iterator = std::reverse_iterator<const_iterator>;

  // Need to define these.
  reverse_iterator rbegin() { return reverse_iterator{end()}; }
  reverse_iterator rend() { return reverse_iterator{begin()}; }

  // If you want const reverse iterators (hint: you do), define these.
  const_reverse_iterator rbegin() const { return crbegin(); }
  const_reverse_iterator rend() const { return crend(); }
  const_reverse_iterator crbegin() const { return const_reverse_iterator{cend()}; }
  const_reverse_iterator crend() const { return const_reverse_iterator{cbegin()}; }
};

Automatic reverse iterators

  • Reverse iterators can be created by std::reverse_iterator
    • ​rbegin() stores end(), so *rbegin is actually *(--end())

Random access iterators

Text

class Iterator {
  ...
  using reference = T&;
  using difference_type = int;

  Iterator& operator+=(difference_type rhs) { ... }
  Iterator& operator-=(difference_type rhs) { return *this += (-rhs); }
  reference operator[](difference_type index) { return *(*this + index); }

  friend Iterator operator+(const Iterator& lhs, difference_type rhs) {
    Iterator copy{*this};
    return copy += rhs;
  }
  friend Iterator operator+(difference_type lhs, const Iterator& rhs) { return rhs + lhs; }
  friend Iterator operator-(const Iterator& lhs, difference_type rhs) { return lhs + (-rhs); }
  friend difference_type operator-(const Iterator& lhs, const Iterator& rhs) { ... }

  friend bool operator<(Iterator lhs, Iterator rhs) { return rhs - lhs > 0; }
  friend bool operator>(Iterator lhs, Iterator rhs) { return rhs - lhs < 0; }
  friend bool operator<=(Iterator lhs, Iterator rhs) { !(lhs > rhs); }
  friend bool operator>=(Iterator lhs, Iterator rhs) { !(lhs < rhs); }
}

See legacy requirements for random access iterators

COMP6771 19T2 - 7.2 - Custom Iterators

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