STL_set——set::begin

Reference:
Returns an iterator that addresses the first element in the set.

Function:
const_iterator begin( ) const;

iterator begin( );

Return Value:
A bidirectional iterator addressing the first element in the set or the location succeeding an empty set.

Remarks:
If the return value of begin is assigned to a const_iterator, the elements in the set object cannot be modified. If the return value of begin is assigned to an iterator, the elements in the set object can be modified.

Example:

#include <set>
#include <iostream>

int main( )
{
   using namespace std;
   set <int> s1;
   set <int>::iterator s1_Iter;
   set <int>::const_iterator s1_cIter;
   
   s1.insert( 1 );
   s1.insert( 2 );
   s1.insert( 3 );

   s1_Iter = s1.begin( );
   cout << "The first element of s1 is " << *s1_Iter << endl;

   s1_Iter = s1.begin( );
   s1.erase( s1_Iter );

   s1_cIter = s1.begin( );
   cout << "The first element of s1 is now " << *s1_cIter << endl;
}

Output:

The first element of s1 is 1
The first element of s1 is now 2