STL_map——map::begin

Reference:
Returns an iterator addressing the first element in the map.

Function:
const_iterator begin( ) const;
iterator begin( );

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

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

Example:

#include <map>
#include <iostream>

int main( )
{
   using namespace std;
   map <int, int> m1;
   int i;
   map <int, int> :: iterator m1_Iter;
   map <int, int> :: const_iterator m1_cIter;
   typedef pair <int, int> Int_Pair;

   m1.insert ( Int_Pair ( 0, 0 ) );
   m1.insert ( Int_Pair ( 1, 1 ) );
   m1.insert ( Int_Pair ( 2, 4 ) );

   m1_cIter = m1.begin ( );
   cout << "The first element of m1 is " << m1_cIter -> first << endl;
   
   m1_Iter = m1.begin ( );
   m1.erase ( m1_Iter );

   m1_cIter = m1.begin( );
   cout << "The first element of m1 is now " << m1_cIter -> first << endl;
}

Output:
The first element of m1 is 0
The first element of m1 is now 1