std::adjacent_find(3)

💖 NAME 💖

okay so bestie, this is the std::adjacent_find(3) page from the C++ Standard Libary manual. Yes, the algorithm that finds two consecutive equal elements and is lowkey iconic for it. 💅

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✨ Synopsis ✨

Bestie, here are the overloads. Stay with me, they're giving template realness:

Defined in header <algorithm>

template< class ForwardIt >
ForwardIt adjacent_find( ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last );  (1) (constexpr since C++20)

template< class ExecutionPolicy, class ForwardIt >
ForwardIt adjacent_find( ExecutionPolicy&& policy,
                         ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last );  (2) (since C++17)

template< class ForwardIt, class BinaryPred >
ForwardIt adjacent_find( ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last,
                         BinaryPred p );  (3) (constexpr since C++20)

template< class ExecutionPolicy, class ForwardIt, class BinaryPred >
ForwardIt adjacent_find( ExecutionPolicy&& policy,
                         ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last,
                         BinaryPred p );  (4) (since C++17)

Searches the range [first, last) for two consecutive equal elements. So it's literally looking for the first adjacent matching pair. 🫶

1. Elements are compared using operator==.
3. Elements are compared using the given binary predicate p. 2,4. Same as (1,3), but executed according to policy.

These overloads participate in overload resolution only if

std::is_execution_policy_v<std::decay_t<ExecutionPolicy>> is true. (until C++20)

std::is_execution_policy_v<std::remove_cvref_t<ExecutionPolicy>> is true. (since C++20)

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💅 Parameters 💅

• first, last — the range of elements to examine.
• policy — the execution policy to use. See execution policy for details.
• p — binary predicate which returns true if the elements should be treated as equal.

The signature of the predicate function should be equivalent to the following:

bool pred(const Type1 &a, const Type2 &b);

While the signature does not need to have const &, the function must not modify the objects passed to it and must be able to accept all values of type (possibly const) Type1 and Type2 regardless of value category (thus, Type1 & is not allowed, nor is Type1 unless for Type1 a move is equivalent to a copy (since C++11)). The types Type1 and Type2 must be such that an object of type ForwardIt can be dereferenced and then implicitly converted to both of them.

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🧚 Type requirements 🧚

• ForwardIt must meet the requirements of LegacyForwardIterator.
• BinaryPred must meet the requirements of BinaryPredicate.

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🎀 Return value 🎀

An iterator to the first of the first pair of identical elements, that is, the first iterator it such that *it == *(it + 1) for (1,2) or p(*it, *(it + 1)) != false for (3,4).

If no such elements are found, last is returned. No cap. 🎀

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🌀 Complexity 🌀

Given result as the return value of adjacent_find, M as std::distance(first, result) and N as std::distance(first, last):

1. Exactly min(M+1,N-1) comparisons using operator==.
2. O(N) comparisons using operator==.
3. Exactly min(M+1,N-1) applications of the predicate p.
4. O(N) applications of the predicate p.

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😭 Exceptions 😭

The overloads with a template parameter named ExecutionPolicy report errors as follows:

• If execution of a function invoked as part of the algorithm throws an exception and ExecutionPolicy is one of the standard policies, std::terminate is called. For any other ExecutionPolicy, the behavior is implementation-defined.
• If the algorithm fails to allocate memory, std::bad_alloc is thrown.

bestie this is the "do not play with exceptions" part, fr fr 😭

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🛠️ Possible implementation 🛠️

adjacent_find (1)

template<class ForwardIt>
ForwardIt adjacent_find(ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last)
{
    if (first == last)
        return last;

    ForwardIt next = first;
    ++next;

    for (; next != last; ++next, ++first)
        if (*first == *next)
            return first;

    return last;
}

adjacent_find (3)

template<class ForwardIt, class BinaryPred>
ForwardIt adjacent_find(ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last, BinaryPred p)
{
    if (first == last)
        return last;

    ForwardIt next = first;
    ++next;

    for (; next != last; ++next, ++first)
        if (p(*first, *next))
            return first;

    return last;
}

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🌈 Example 🌈

Run this code:

#include <algorithm>
#include <functional>
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>

int main()
{
    std::vector<int> v1{0, 1, 2, 3, 40, 40, 41, 41, 5};

    auto i1 = std::adjacent_find(v1.begin(), v1.end());

    if (i1 == v1.end())
        std::cout << "No matching adjacent elements\n";
    else
        std::cout << "The first adjacent pair of equal elements is at "
                  << std::distance(v1.begin(), i1) << ", *i1 = "
                  << *i1 << '\n';

    auto i2 = std::adjacent_find(v1.begin(), v1.end(),
                                 std::greater<int>());
    if (i2 == v1.end())
        std::cout << "The entire vector is sorted in ascending order\n";
    else
        std::cout << "The last element in the non-decreasing subsequence is at "
                  << std::distance(v1.begin(), i2) << ", *i2 = " << *i2
                  << '\n';
}

Output

The first adjacent pair of equal elements is at 4, *i1 = 40
The last element in the non-decreasing subsequence is at 7, *i2 = 41

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🩹 Defect reports 🩹

The following behavior-changing defect reports were applied retroactively to previously published C++ standards.

• DR LWG 240, applied to C++98
  • Behavior as published: the predicate was applied std::find(first, last, value) - first times for (1,3), where value was never defined.
  • Correct behavior: applied std::min((result - first) + 1, (last - first) - 1) times.

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👀 See also 👀

• unique — removes consecutive duplicate elements in a range (function template)
• ranges::adjacent_find (C++20) — finds the first two adjacent items that are equal (or satisfy a given predicate) (niebloid)

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okay bestie that's the whole page, mwah 💋 sign-off source/version/date vibes: http://cppreference.com, version 2024.06.10, page std::adjacent_find(3). periodt ✨💖