Creating a custom iterator
One of the beauties of C++ is its flexibility, empowering developers to mold the language to suit their needs. This flexibility doesn’t stop with built-in functionality for container iteration. While std::vector comes with its set of built-in iterators, nothing is stopping us from creating our own. But why might we want to?
The appeal of custom iterators
Let’s examine the reasons you’d want to implement a custom iterator:
- Enhanced abstraction: Consider a vector storing a matrix in a flat format. Wouldn’t it be more intuitive to iterate through rows or columns rather than individual elements? Custom iterators can facilitate this.
- Data transformation: Perhaps you wish to iterate through the vector but retrieve transformed data, like the squared values of each element. Instead of changing the data before or during retrieval, a custom iterator can abstract this.
- Filtered views: Imagine skipping over certain elements...
