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

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

The function begin() returns an iterator to the first element of the vector,
and runs in [[/complexity|constant time]].

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

<code>
    vector<string> words;
    string str;

    while( cin >> str ) words.push_back(str);

    for( vector<string>::const_iterator iter = words.begin();
         iter != words.end(); ++iter ) {
      cout << *iter << endl;
    }
</code>

When given this input:

<code terminal>
    hey mickey you're so fine
</code>

...the above code produces the following output:

<code terminal>
    hey
    mickey
    you're
    so
    fine
</code>

Related Topics: [[vector_operators|[] operator]], [[at]], [[end]], [[rbegin]], [[rend]]