How to Access First Element of a List in C++?

In C++, a list is a sequential container that allows constant time insertions and deletions and allows the users to store data in non-contiguous memory locations. In this article, we will learn how to access the first element in the list in C++.

Examples: 

Input:   
myList ={1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

Output: 
The first element of the list is 1.

Access the First Element of a List in C++

To access the first element in a std::list in C++, we can use the std::list::front() method which provides a reference to the first element present in the list.

Syntax of std::list::front()

list_name.front();

C++ Program to Access the First Element of a List

The following program illustrates how we can access the first element of a list in C++.

C++

// C++ Program to illustrate how we can  access the first
// element of a list
#include <iostream>
#include <list>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
    list<int> l1 = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };

    // Access the first element using front()
    int firstElement = l1.front();

    // Print the first element
    cout << "First Element of the list is: " << firstElement
         << endl;

    return 0;
}

Output

First Element of the list is: 1

Time Complexity:O(1)
Auxiliary Space:O(1)