std::Forward Iterator

RandomAccess		Bidirectional		Forward		Input
						Output

Forward iterators are iterators especially designed for sequential access, where the algorithm passes through all the elements in the range from the beginning to the end.

There is not a single type of forward iterator: Each container defines its own specific iterator type able to iterate through it and access its elements. But all forward iterators support -at least- the following operations:

characteristic	valid expressions
Can be default-constructed	X a; X()
Can be copied and copy-constructed	X b(a); b = a;
Accepts equality/inequality comparisons. Equal iterators imply the same element is pointed	a == b a != b
Can be dereferenced (when not null)	*a a->m
Can be incremented (when not null)	++a a++ *a++

Where X is an iterator type, and a and b are objects of this iterator type.

These characteristics are the same of bidirectional iterators, except that forward iterators only support increment and not decrement.

See also

Input Iterator

Input iterator category

Output Iterator

Output iterator category

Bidirectional Iterator

Bidirectional iterator category

Random Access Iterator

Random-access iterator category

iterator

Iterator base class (class template )