Should I prefer iterators over const_iterators?

Question

Someone here recently brought up the article from Scott Meyers that says:

• Prefer iterators over const_iterators (pdf link).

Someone else was commenting that the article is probably outdated. I'm wondering what your opinions are?

Here is mine: One of the main points of the article is that you cannot erase or insert on a const_iterator, but I think it's funny to use that as an argument against const_iterators. I thought the whole point of const_iterators it that you do not modify the range at all, neither the elements themselves by substituting their values nor the range by inserting or erasing. Or am I missing something?

Answer 1

I totally agree with you. I think the answer is simple: Use const_iterators where const values are the right thing to use, and vice versa. Seems to me that those who are against const_iterators must be against const in general...

Answer 2

Here's a slightly different way to look at it. Const_iterator almost never makes sense when you are passing it as a pointer into a specific collection and you are passing the collection as well. Mr. Meyer was specifically stating that const_iterator cannot be used with most member functions of a collection instance. In that case, you will need a plain-old iterator. However, if you don't have a handle to the collection, the only difference between the two is that you can modify what is pointed to by an iterator and you can't modify the object referenced by a const_iterator.

So... you want to use iterator whenever you are passing a collection and position into the collection to an algorithm. Basically, signatures like:

void some_operation(std::vector<int>& vec, std::vector::const_iterator pos);

don't make a whole lot of sense. The implicit statement is that some_operation is free to modify the underlying collection but is not allowed to modify what pos references. That doesn't make much sense. If you really want this, then pos should be an offset instead of an iterator.

On the flip side, most of the algorithms in the STL are based on ranges specified by a pair of iterators. The collection itself is never passed so the difference between iterator and const_iterator is whether the value in the collection can be modified through the iterator or not. Without a reference to the collection, the separation is pretty clear.

Hopefully that made things as clear as mud ;)

Answer 3

I don't think this particular statement of Meyer's needs to be taken with special concern. When you want a non-modifying operation, it is best to use a const_iterator. Otherwise, use an ordinary iterator. However, do note the one important thing: Never mix iterators i.e. const ones with non-const ones. As long as you are aware of the latter, you should be fine.