STL-12 Forward List in C++ | Set 1 (Introduction and Important Functions)

Forward List in C++ | Set 1 (Introduction and Important Functions)

Forward list in STL implements singly linked list. Introduced from C++11, forward list are more useful than other containers in insertion, removal and moving operations (like sort) and allows time constant insertion and removal of elements.
It differs from list by the fact that forward list keeps track of location of only next element while list keeps track to both next and previous elements, thus increasing the storage space required to store each element. The drawback of forward list is that it cannot be iterated backwards and its individual elements cannot be accessed directly.
Forward List is preferred over list when only forward traversal is required (same as singly linked list is preferred over doubly linked list) as we can save space. Some example cases are, chaining in hashing, adjacency list representation of graph, etc.

Operations on Forward List :

1. assign():- This function is used to assign values to forward list, its another variant is used to assign repeated elements.

// C++ code to demonstrate forward list
// and assign()
#include<iostream>
#include<forward_list>
using namespace std;

int main() {
	// Declaring forward list
	forward_list<int> flist1;

	// Declaring another forward list
	forward_list<int> flist2;

	// Assigning values using assign()
	flist1.assign({1, 2, 3});

	// Assigning repeating values using assign()
	// 5 elements with value 10
	flist2.assign(5, 10);

	// Displaying forward lists
	cout << "The elements of first forward list are : ";
	for (int&a : flist1)
		cout << a << " ";
	cout << endl;
	
	cout << "The elements of second forward list are : ";
	for (int&b : flist2)
		cout << b << " ";
	cout << endl;

	return 0;
}

Output:

The elements of first forward list are : 1 2 3 
The elements of second forward list are : 10 10 10 10 10

2. push_front() :- This function is used to insert the element at the first position on forward list. The value from this function is copied to the space before first element in the container. The size of forward list increases by 1.

3. emplace_front() :- This function is similar to the previous function but in this no copying operation occurs, the element is created directly at the memory before the first element of the forward list.

4. pop_front() :- This function is used to delete the first element of list.

// C++ code to demonstrate working of
// push_front(), emplace_front() and pop_front()
#include<iostream>
#include<forward_list>
using namespace std;

int main() {
	// Initializing forward list
	forward_list<int> flist = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50};

	// Inserting value using push_front()
	// Inserts 60 at front
	flist.push_front(60);
	
	// Displaying the forward list
	cout << "The forward list after push_front operation : ";
	for (int&c : flist)
		cout << c << " ";
	cout << endl;
	
	// Inserting value using emplace_front()
	// Inserts 70 at front
	flist.emplace_front(70);
	
	// Displaying the forward list
	cout << "The forward list after emplace_front operation : ";
	for (int&c : flist)
	cout << c << " ";
	cout << endl;
	
	// Deleting first value using pop_front()
	// Pops 70
	flist.pop_front();
	
	// Displaying the forward list
	cout << "The forward list after pop_front operation : ";
	for (int&c : flist)
		cout << c << " ";
	cout << endl;

	return 0;
}

Output:

The forward list after push_front operation : 60 10 20 30 40 50 
The forward list after emplace_front operation : 70 60 10 20 30 40 50 
The forward list after pop_front operation : 60 10 20 30 40 50

4. insert_after() This function gives us a choice to insert elements at any position in forward list. The arguments in this function are copied at the desired position.
5. emplace_after() This function also does the same operation as above function but the elements are directly made without any copy operation.
6. erase_after() This function is used to erase elements from a particular position in the forward list.

// C++ code to demonstrate working of
// insert_after(), emplace_after() and erase_after()
#include<iostream>
#include<forward_list>
using namespace std;

int main() {
	// Initializing forward list
	forward_list<int> flist = {10, 20, 30} ;
	
	// Declaring a forward list iterator
	forward_list<int>::iterator ptr;

	// Inserting value using insert_after()
	// starts insertion from second position
	ptr = flist.insert_after(flist.begin(), {1, 2, 3});
	
	// Displaying the forward list
	cout << "The forward list after insert_after operation : ";
	for (int&c : flist)
		cout << c << " ";
	cout << endl;
	
	// Inserting value using emplace_after()
	// inserts 2 after ptr
	ptr = flist.emplace_after(ptr,2);
	
	// Displaying the forward list
	cout << "The forward list after emplace_after operation : ";
	for (int&c : flist)
		cout << c << " ";
	cout << endl;
	
	// Deleting value using erase.after Deleted 2
	// after ptr
	ptr = flist.erase_after(ptr);
	
	// Displaying the forward list
	cout << "The forward list after erase_after operation : ";
	for (int&c : flist)
		cout << c << " ";
	cout << endl;

	return 0;
}

Output:

The forward list after insert_after operation : 10 1 2 3 20 30 
The forward list after emplace_after operation : 10 1 2 3 2 20 30 
The forward list after erase_after operation : 10 1 2 3 2 30

7. remove() :- This function removes the particular element from the forward list mentioned in its argument.
8. remove_if() :- This function removes according to the condition in its argument.

// C++ code to demonstrate working of remove() and
// remove_if()
#include<iostream>
#include<forward_list>
using namespace std;

int main() {
	// Initializing forward list
	forward_list<int> flist = {10, 20, 30, 25, 40, 40};
	
	// Removing element using remove()
	// Removes all occurrences of 40
	flist.remove(40);
	
	// Displaying the forward list
	cout << "The forward list after remove operation : ";
	for (int&c : flist)
		cout << c << " ";
	cout << endl;
	
	// Removing according to condition. Removes
	// elements greater than 20. Removes 25 and 30
	flist.remove_if([](int x){ return x>20;});
	
	// Displaying the forward list
	cout << "The forward list after remove_if operation : ";
	for (int&c : flist)
	cout << c << " ";
	cout << endl;

	return 0;

}

Output:

The forward list after remove operation : 10 20 30 25 
The forward list after remove_if operation : 10 20

9. splice_after():- This function transfers elements from one forward list to other.

// C++ code to demonstrate working of
// splice_after()
#include<iostream>
#include<forward_list> // for splice_after()
using namespace std;

int main() {
	// Initializing forward list
	forward_list<int> flist1 = {10, 20, 30};
	
	// Initializing second list
	forward_list<int> flist2 = {40, 50, 60};
	
	// Shifting elements from first to second
	// forward list after 1st position
	flist2.splice_after(flist2.begin(),flist1);
	
	// Displaying the forward list
	cout << "The forward list after splice_after operation : ";
	for (int&c : flist2)
	cout << c << " ";
	cout << endl;

	return 0;
}

Output:

The forward list after splice_after operation : 40 10 20 30 50 60

Some more methods of forward_list:

• front()– This function is used to reference the first element of the forward list container.
• begin() – begin() function is used to return an iterator pointing to the first element of the forward list container.
• end()– end() function is used to return an iterator pointing to the last element of the list container.
• cbegin() – Returns a constant iterator pointing to the first element of the forward_list.
• cend() – Returns a constant iterator pointing to the past-the-last element of the forward_list.
• before_begin() – Returns a iterator which points to the position before the first element of the forward_list.
• cbefore_begin() – Returns a constant random access iterator which points to the position before the first element of the forward_list.
• max_size() – Returns the maximum number of elements can be held by forward_list.
• resize() – Changes the size of forward_list.

Turn to Google or Baidu for more detailed description and usage of the functions above.

More:
Forward List in C++ | Set 2 (Manipulating Functions)

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