std::array::front(3)

🌸 std::array::front(3) 💅

Bestie, this is the C++ Standard Libary manual page for std::array::front(3) — yes, the header literally spells it “Libary,” and we respect the typo. It’s giving “first element access, but make it const-correct.”

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✨ NAME ✨

• std::array::front — std::array::front (that’s it, that’s the name section, periodt).

🦋 Synopsis 🦋

          reference front();             (1) (since C++11)
                                             (constexpr since C++17)
          const_reference front() const; (2) (since C++11)
                                             (constexpr since C++14)

So overload (1) gives you a reference; overload (2) gives you a const_reference and is const. Both are since C++11, with constexpr since C++17 for (1) and since C++14 for (2).

It returns a reference to the first element in the container.

⚠️ Calling front on an empty container causes undefined behavior. Not a drill. Do not pass go, do not collect vibes. Check empty() first if there’s any chance it’s empty.

🧚 Parameters 🧚

(none) — no args, no stress, literally none.

👑 Return value 👑

Reference to the first element.

⭐ Complexity ⭐

Constant. That’s the whole complexity section, bestie. No hidden scaling, no side quests.

🧠 Notes 🧠

For a container c, the expression c.front() is equivalent to *c.begin(). Iykyk.

💻 Example 💻

The following code uses front to display the first element of a std::array<char, 6>. The page literally says // Run this code right before the sample:

#include <array>
#include <iostream>

int main()
{
    std::array<char, 6> letters{'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f'};

    if (!letters.empty())
        std::cout << "The first character is '" << letters.front() <<
       "'.\n";
}

Output:

The first character is 'a'.

🌈 See also 🌈

• back — access the last element (public member function).

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💖 okay that’s the whole page, bestie. Sign-off from the C++ Standard Libary manual: source http://cppreference.com, version/date 2024.06.10, page std::array::front(3). Slay. 💅