multimap::begin() and multimap::end() in C++ STL

Difficulty Level : Basic
Last Updated : 22 Jun, 2018

multimap::begin() is a built-in function in C++ STL which returns an iterator referring to the first element in the multimap container. Since multimap container contains the element in an ordered way, begin() will point to that element that will come first according to the container’s sorting criterion.

Syntax:

multimap_name.begin()

Parameters: The function does not accept any parameter.

Return Value: The function returns an iterator referring to the first element in the multimap container

// C++ function to illustrate
// the multimap::begin() function
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
  
int main()
{
  
    // initialize container
    multimap<int, int> mp;
  
    // insert elements in random order
    mp.insert({ 2, 30 });
    mp.insert({ 1, 40 });
    mp.insert({ 3, 60 });
    mp.insert({ 4, 20 });
    mp.insert({ 5, 50 });
  
    auto ite = mp.begin();
  
    cout << "The first element is: ";
    cout << "{" << ite->first << ", "
         << ite->second << "}\n";
  
    // prints the elements
    cout << "\nThe multimap is : \n";
    cout << "KEY\tELEMENT\n";
    for (auto itr = mp.begin(); itr != mp.end(); ++itr) {
        cout << itr->first
             << '\t' << itr->second << '\n';
    }
    return 0;
}

Output:

The first element is: {1, 40}

The multimap is : 
KEY    ELEMENT
1    40
2    30
3    60
4    20
5    50

multimap::end() is a built-in function in C++ STL which returns an iterator to the theoretical element that follows last element in the multimap. Since multimap container contains the element in an ordered way, end() will point to that theoretical position which follows the last element according to the container’s sorting criterion.

Syntax:

multimap_name.end()

Parameters: The function does not accept any parameter.

Return Value: The function returns an iterator referring to the first element in the multimap container

// C++ function to illustrate
// the multimap::end() function
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
  
int main()
{
  
    // initialize container
    multimap<int, int> mp;
  
    // insert elements in random order
    mp.insert({ 2, 30 });
    mp.insert({ 1, 40 });
    mp.insert({ 3, 60 });
    mp.insert({ 4, 20 });
    mp.insert({ 5, 50 });
  
    // prints the elements
    cout << "\nThe multimap is : \n";
    cout << "KEY\tELEMENT\n";
    for (auto itr = mp.begin(); itr != mp.end(); ++itr) {
        cout << itr->first
             << '\t' << itr->second << '\n';
    }
    return 0;
}

Output:

The multimap is : 
KEY    ELEMENT
1    40
2    30
3    60
4    20
5    50

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multimap::begin() and multimap::end() in C++ STL