C++ last loop iteration (STL map iterator)

Question

I'm trying to figure out the best way to determine if I'm in the last iteration of a loop over a map in order to do something like the following:

for (iter = someMap.begin(); iter != someMap.end(); ++iter) {
    bool last_iteration;
    // do something for all iterations
    if (!last_iteration) {
        // do something for all but the last iteration
    }
}

There seem to be several ways of doing this: random access iterators, the distance function, etc. What's the canonical method?

Edit: no random access iterators for maps!

Answer 1

This seems like the simplest:

bool last_iteration = iter == (--someMap.end());

Answer 2

You can just pull an element out of the map prior to iteration, then perform your "last iteration" work out of the loop and then put the element back into the map. This is horribly bad for asynchronous code, but considering how bad the rest of C++ is for concurrency, I don't think it'll be an issue. :-)

Answer 3

Canonical? I can't claim that, but I'd suggest

final_iter = someMap.end();
--final_iter;
if (iter != final_iter) ...

Edited to correct as suggested by KTC. (Thanks! Sometimes you go too quick and mess up on the simplest things...)

Answer 4

Modified Mark Ransom's so it actually work as intended.

finalIter = someMap.end();
--finalIter;
if (iter != final_iter)

Answer 5

A simple, yet effective, approach:

  size_t items_remaining = someMap.size();

  for (iter = someMap.begin(); iter != someMap.end(); iter++) {
    bool last_iteration = items_remaining-- == 1;
  }

Answer 6

Full program:

#include <iostream>
#include <list>

void process(int ii)
{
   std::cout << " " << ii;
}

int main(void)
{
   std::list<int> ll;

   ll.push_back(1);
   ll.push_back(2);
   ll.push_back(3);
   ll.push_back(4);
   ll.push_back(5);
   ll.push_back(6);

   std::list<int>::iterator iter = ll.begin();
   if (iter != ll.end())
   {
      std::list<int>::iterator lastIter = iter;
      ++ iter;
      while (iter != ll.end())
      {
         process(*lastIter);
         lastIter = iter;
         ++ iter;
      }
      // todo: think if you need to process *lastIter
      std::cout << " | last:";
      process(*lastIter);
   }

   std::cout << std::endl;

   return 0;
}

This program yields:

 1 2 3 4 5 | last: 6

Answer 7

#include <boost/lambda/lambda.hpp>
#include <boost/lambda/bind.hpp>
#include <algorithm>

using namespace boost::lambda;

// call the function foo on each element but the last...
if( !someMap.empty() )
{
  std::for_each( someMap.begin(), --someMap.end(), bind( &Foo, _1 ) );
}

Using std::for_each will ensure that the loop is tight and accurate... Note the introduction of the function foo() which takes a single argument (the type should match what is contained in someMap). This approach has the added addition of being 1 line. Of course, if Foo is really small, you can use a lambda function and get rid of the call to &Foo.

Answer 8

If you just want to use a ForwardIterator, this should work:

for ( i = c.begin(); i != c.end(); ) {
        iterator cur = i++;
        // do something, using cur
        if ( i != c.end() ) {
                // do something using cur for all but the last iteration
        }
}

Answer 9

Here's my optimized take:

iter = someMap.begin();

do {
    // Note that curr = iter++ may involve up to three copy operations
    curr = iter;

    // Do stuff with curr

    if (++iter == someMap.end()) {
        // Oh, this was the last iteration
        break;
    }

    // Do more stuff with curr

} while (true);

Answer 10

Thanks for that solution, I used that and Mark's solution worked

Answer 11

Surprised no one mentioned it yet, but of course boost has something ;)

Boost.Next (and the equivalent Boost.Prior)

Your example would look like:

for (iter = someMap.begin(); iter != someMap.end(); ++iter) {
    // do something for all iterations
    if (boost::next(iter) != someMap.end()) {
        // do something for all but the last iteration
    }
}