Different ways to iterate over a set in C++

In this article we will discuss different ways to iterate over a set in C++.

Let’s create a set of strings i.e.

// Set of strings
std::set<std::string> setOfStr = {
							"jjj",
							"khj",
							"bca",
							"aaa",
							"ddd" };

Now let’s iterate over it and print the contents on screen using different methods i.e.

Iterating over a Set using Iterators

set::begin() returns an iterator pointing to the first element in set. Whereas, set::end() returns an iterator past the end of set.

Now to iterate a set in forward direction, we need to create an iterator and initialise it with set::begin(). So that it points to start of set and then we will keep on access and increment the iterator to next till set::end() is reached i.e.

// Creating a iterator pointing to start of set
std::set<std::string>::iterator it = setOfStr.begin();

// Iterate till the end of set
while (it != setOfStr.end())
{
	// Print the element
	std::cout << (*it) << " , ";
	//Increment the iterator
	it++;
}

Here we iterated the set in forward direction. Now, let’s see how to iterate in reverse direction.

Iterating a set in backward direction using reverse_iterator

set::rbegin() returns a reverse_iterator pointing to the last element of set. Whereas, set::rend() returns a reverse_iterator pointing to element before the first element.

Now to iterate a set in reverse direction, we need to create an reverse_iterator and initialise it with set::rbegin(). So that it points to the last element of set and then we will keep on access and increment the iterator to next till set::rend() is reached i.e. beginning of set.

// Creating a reverse iterator pointing to end of set i.e. rbegin
std::set<std::string>::reverse_iterator revIt = setOfStr.rbegin();

// Iterate till the start of set i.e. rend
while (revIt != setOfStr.rend())
{
	// Print the element
	std::cout << (*revIt) << " , ";
	//Increment the iterator
	revIt++;
}

 

Iterating over a set using Range base for loop

// Iterate over all elements of set
// using range based for loop
for (auto elem : setOfStr)
{
	std::cout << elem << " , ";
}

 

Iterating over a set using std::for_each and range based for loop

// Iterate over all elements using for_each
// and lambda function
std::for_each(setOfStr.begin(), setOfStr.end(), [](const std::string & str)
												{
													std::cout<<str<<" , ";
												});

Complete example is as follows,

#include <iostream>
#include <set>
#include <string>
#include <algorithm>

int main()
{
// Set of strings
	std::set<std::string> setOfStr =
	{ "jjj", "khj", "bca", "aaa", "ddd" };

	std::cout << "*** Iterating Set in Forward Direction using Iterators ***"
			<< std::endl;

// Creating a iterator pointing to start of set
	std::set<std::string>::iterator it = setOfStr.begin();

// Iterate till the end of set
	while (it != setOfStr.end())
	{
		// Print the element
		std::cout << (*it) << " , ";
		//Increment the iterator
		it++;
	}
	std::cout << std::endl;

	std::cout << "*** Iterating Set in Reverse Direction using Iterators ***"
			<< std::endl;

// Creating a reverse iterator pointing to end of set i.e. rbegin
	std::set<std::string>::reverse_iterator revIt = setOfStr.rbegin();

// Iterate till the start of set i.e. rend
	while (revIt != setOfStr.rend())
	{
		// Print the element
		std::cout << (*revIt) << " , ";
		//Increment the iterator
		revIt++;
	}
	std::cout << std::endl;

	std::cout << "*** Iterating Set using range based for loop ***"
			<< std::endl;

// Iterate over all elements of set
// using range based for loop
	for (auto elem : setOfStr)
	{
		std::cout << elem << " , ";
	}
	std::cout << std::endl;

	std::cout << "*** Iterating Set using for_each algo & Lambda function ***"
			<< std::endl;

// Iterate over all elements using for_each
// and lambda function
	std::for_each(setOfStr.begin(), setOfStr.end(), [](const std::string & str)
	{
		std::cout<<str<<" , ";
	});
	std::cout << std::endl;
}

 

Output:

*** Iterating Set in Forward Direction using Iterators ***
aaa , bca , ddd , jjj , khj , 
*** Iterating Set in Reverse Direction using Iterators ***
khj , jjj , ddd , bca , aaa , 
*** Iterating Set using range based for loop ***
aaa , bca , ddd , jjj , khj , 
*** Iterating Set using for_each algo & Lambda function ***
aaa , bca , ddd , jjj , khj ,