# std::set<Key,Compare,Allocator>::begin, std::set<Key,Compare,Allocator>::cbegin

From cppreference.com
< cpp‎ | container‎ | set

iterator begin(); |  | (until C++11)
iterator begin() noexcept; |  | (since C++11)
const_iterator begin() const; |  | (until C++11)
const_iterator begin() const noexcept; |  | (since C++11)
const_iterator cbegin() const noexcept; |  | (since C++11)

Returns an iterator to the first element of the container.

If the container is empty, the returned iterator will be equal to end().

### Parameters

(none)

### Return value

Iterator to the first element

### Complexity

Constant

### Notes

Because both `iterator` and `const_iterator` are constant iterators (and may in fact be the same type), it is not possible to mutate the elements of the container through an iterator returned by any of these member functions.

### Example

Run this code

    #include <set>
    #include <iostream>

    int main() {
      std::set<int> set = { 6, 1, 3, 4, 2, 5 };
      for (auto it = set.begin(); it != set.end(); ++it)
        std::cout << *it << "\n";
    }

Possible output:

    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6

### See also

end cend | returns an iterator to the end (public member function)

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