Introduction to ranges

Programming paradigms evolve, and C++ is no exception. As the journey through the vast landscape of the C++ Standard Template Library (STL) unfolds, it is evident that adaptability and growth have been at their core. One such evolutionary step, which stands out for its expressiveness and efficiency, is the advent of ranges in modern C++. But what exactly are ranges?

Understanding the essence of ranges

Ranges, in the simplest of terms, are an abstraction over sequences of values. Unlike traditional iterators, which typically require pairs of begin and end to define a sequence, ranges encapsulate this information within a unified entity. This seemingly subtle shift has profound implications, reshaping how we approach algorithms and data manipulations.

At a glance, the following shows the verbose legacy way to sort a vector:

std::sort(v.begin(), v.end());

However, with ranges, we could express it as follows:

std::ranges::sort(v);

The beauty lies...