Executes statement repeatedly and sequentially for each element in expression.
for ( for-range-declaration : expression ) statement
Use the range-based for statement to construct loops that must execute through a "range", which is defined as anything that you can iterate through—for example, std::vector, or any other STL sequence whose range is defined by a begin() and end(). The name that is declared in the for-range-declaration portion is local to the for statement and cannot be re-declared in expression or statement. Note that the auto keyword is preferred in the for-range-declaration portion of the statement.
This code shows how to use ranged for loops to iterate through an array and a vector:
// range-based-for.cpp // compile by using: cl /EHsc /nologo /W4 #include <iostream> #include <vector> using namespace std; int main() { // Basic 10-element integer array. int x[10] = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 }; // Range-based for loop to iterate through the array. for( int y : x ) { // Access by value using a copy declared as a specific type. // Not preferred. cout << y << " "; } cout << endl; // The auto keyword causes type inference to be used. Preferred. for( auto y : x ) { // Copy of 'x', almost always undesirable cout << y << " "; } cout << endl; for( auto &y : x ) { // Type inference by reference. // Observes and/or modifies in-place. Preferred when modify is needed. cout << y << " "; } cout << endl; for( const auto &y : x ) { // Type inference by reference. // Observes in-place. Preferred when no modify is needed. cout << y << " "; } cout << endl; cout << "end of integer array test" << endl; cout << endl; // Create a vector object that contains 10 elements. vector<double> v; for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i) { v.push_back(i + 0.14159); } // Range-based for loop to iterate through the vector, observing in-place. for( const auto &j : v ) { cout << j << " "; } cout << endl; cout << "end of vector test" << endl; }
Here is the output:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
end of integer array test
0.14159 1.14159 2.14159 3.14159 4.14159 5.14159 6.14159 7.14159 8.14159 9.14159
end of vector test
A range-based for loop terminates when one of these in statement is executed: a break, return, or goto to a labeled statement outside the range-based for loop. A continue statement in a range-based for loop terminates only the current iteration.
Keep in mind these facts about range-based for:
Automatically recognizes arrays.
Recognizes containers that have .begin() and .end().
Uses argument-dependent lookup begin() and end() for anything else.
