=====begin=====
Syntax:

<code>
    #include <deque>
    iterator begin();
    const_iterator begin() const;
</code>

The function begin() returns an iterator to the first element of the deque.
begin() should run in [[/complexity|constant time]].

For example, the following code uses begin() to initialize an iterator that is
used to traverse a deque:

<code>
     // Create a deque of characters
     deque<char> dq_char;
     for( int i=0; i < 10; i++ ) {
       dq_char.push_front( i + 'a' );
     }
     // Display the deque
     deque<char>::iterator theIterator;
     for( theIterator = dq_char.begin(); theIterator != dq_char.end(); ++theIterator ) {
       cout << *theIterator;
     }
</code>

The code produces the following output:
<code>
 abcdefghij
</code>

Related Topics: [[end]], [[rbegin]], [[rend]]