Why does dereferencing a string vector iterator need parentheses?

Question

vector<string> MyStrings;
vector<string>::iterator ItStr;

I'm using c_str() to return the pointer to the string.

Why does it need to be dereferenced with parentheses?

Doesn't compile: *ItStr.c_str();

error C2039: 'c_str' : is not a member of 'std::vector<_Ty>::iterator'

Compiles/Works with parentheses around iterator: (*ItStr).c_str();

If you could point me (no pun intended) in the right direction I would appreciate it.Thanks!

Answer 1

Because the . operator has precedence over the * operator. See this link

Answer 2

. has higher precedence than the unary *.

*ItStr.c_str() is as if you had said *(ItStr.c_str()).

You can, of course, just use ItStr->c_str(), since (*x).y is equivalent to x->y (at least for pointers and iterators; you can, of course, overload the operators for your own types such that they are not consistent, but you'd be crazy to do so).