Can I use std::max_element() on std::deque in c++11?

Question

Can I code like std::max_element(std::begin(my_deque), std::end(my_deque))?

I am asking because I know deque is not guaranteed to store continuously, so I want to know if it will behave correctly when using functions involving iterator like std::max_element?

Thank you very much!

Answer 1

std::max_element has a signature in the form of

template<class ForwardIterator>
ForwardIterator max_element(ForwardIterator first, ForwardIterator last);

From the template type name we know that it requires a forward iterator. Per [container.requirements.general]-Table 96 we know that std::deque uses

any iterator category that meets the forward iterator requirements

So since it uses a forward iterator or better it will always be okay.

Answer 2

Yes it will work correctly. The overload of std::max_element that will be invoked in this case is

template< class ForwardIt > 
ForwardIt max_element(ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last);

The only requirements on the iterators are

first, last - forward iterators defining the range to examine

So there is no requirement about random access iterators, only forward iterators.