Concepts and iterators

C++20 introduced concepts as one of its major features. Along with concepts, C++20 has new iterators based on concepts. Even though the iterators we’ve explained up to this point are now considered legacy features, they have already been used in many lines of code. That is why we introduced them first before continuing with the new iterator concepts. Now, let’s find out what concepts are and how to use them.

Understanding concepts

Abstraction is essential in computer programming. In the previous chapters, we discussed that OOP is a way to represent data and operations as abstract entities. We also covered template metaprogramming by diving into templates and making our classes even more flexible by reusing them for various aggregate types. Templates allow not just abstraction from specific types but also loose coupling between entity and aggregate types. Consider the std::vector class. It offers a general interface for storing and manipulating...