forward_list::clear() and forward_list::erase_after() in C++ STL

Difficulty Level : Basic
Last Updated : 26 Jul, 2018

Forward list in STL implements singly linked list. Introduced from C++11, forward list are 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.

forward_list::clear()

clear() function is used to remove all the elements of the forward list container, thus making its size 0.
Syntax :

forwardlistname.clear()
Parameters :
No parameters are passed.
Result :
All the elements of the forward list are
removed ( or destroyed )

Examples:

Input  : flist{1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
         flist.clear();
Output : flist{}

Input  : flist{};
         flist.clear();
Output : flist{}

Errors and Exceptions

1. It has a no exception throw guarantee.
2. Shows error when a parameter is passed.

// CPP program to illustrate
// Implementation of clear() function
#include <forward_list>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
  
int main()
{
    forward_list<int> myflist{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
  
    myflist.clear();
    // Forward List becomes empty
  
    // Printing the Forward list
    for (auto it = myflist.begin(); it != myflist.end(); ++it)
        cout << ' ' << *it;
    return 0;
}

Output:

No Output

forward_list::erase_after()

erase-after() function is used to remove elements from a container next to the specified position or from a range.

Syntax :

1. flistname.erase_after(position)
2. flistname.erase_after(startingposition, endingposition)
Parameters :
Position previous of the element to be removed in the form of iterator.
or the range specified using start and end iterator.
Result :
Elements are removed from the next
position of the container.

Examples:

Input  : flist{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, iterator= 2
         flist.erase_after(iterator);
Output : 1, 2, 3, 5

Input  : flist{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}, iterator1= 3, iterator2= 6
         flist.erase(iterator1, iterator2);
Output : 1, 2, 3, 8

Errors and Exceptions

1. It has a no exception throw guarantee, if the position is valid.
2. Shows undefined behaviour otherwise.

Removing element from particular position

// CPP program to illustrate
// Implementation of erase_after() function
#include <forward_list>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
  
int main()
{
    forward_list<int> myflist{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
    forward_list<int>::iterator it;
  
    it = myflist.begin();
    myflist.erase_after(it);
  
    // Printing the forward list
    for (auto it = myflist.begin(); it != myflist.end(); ++it)
        cout << ' ' << *it;
    return 0;
}

Output:

1 3 4 5

Removing elements within a range

// CPP program to illustrate
// Implementation of erase_after() function
#include <forward_list>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
  
int main()
{
    forward_list<int> myflist{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
    forward_list<int>::iterator it1, it2;
  
    it1 = myflist.begin();
    it2 = myflist.end();
  
    myflist.erase_after(it1, it2);
  
    // Printing the forward list
    for (auto it = myflist.begin(); it != myflist.end(); ++it)
        cout << ' ' << *it;
    return 0;
}

Output:

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