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std::iota

Defined in header <numeric>
template< class ForwardIt, class T >
void iota( ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last, T value );
(since C++11)
(until C++20)
template< class ForwardIt, class T >
constexpr void iota( ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last, T value );
(since C++20)

Fills the range [firstlast) with sequentially increasing values, starting with value and repetitively evaluating ++value.

Equivalent operation:

*(first)     = value;
*(first + 1) = ++value;
*(first + 2) = ++value;
*(first + 3) = ++value;
...

Parameters

first, last - the range of elements to fill with sequentially increasing values starting with value
value - initial value to store; the expression ++value must be well-formed

Return value

(none).

Complexity

Exactly last - first increments and assignments.

Possible implementation

template<class ForwardIt, class T>
constexpr // since C++20
void iota(ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last, T value)
{
    while (first != last)
    {
        *first++ = value;
        ++value;
    }
}

Notes

The function is named after the integer function ⍳ from the programming language APL. It was one of the STL components that were not included in C++98, but made it into the standard library in C++11.

Example

The following example applies std::shuffle to a vector of std::lists' iterators. std::iota is used to populate containers.

#include <algorithm>
#include <iomanip>
#include <iostream>
#include <list>
#include <numeric>
#include <random>
#include <vector>
 
class BigData // inefficient to copy
{
    int data[1024]; /* some raw data */
public:
    explicit BigData(int i = 0) { data[0] = i; /* ... */ }
    operator int() const { return data[0]; }
    BigData& operator=(int i) { data[0] = i; return *this; }
    /* ... */
};
 
int main()
{
    std::list<BigData> l(10);
    std::iota(l.begin(), l.end(), -4);
 
    std::vector<std::list<BigData>::iterator> v(l.size());
    std::iota(v.begin(), v.end(), l.begin());
    // Vector of iterators (to original data) is used to avoid expensive copying,
    // and because std::shuffle (below) cannot be applied to a std::list directly.
 
    std::shuffle(v.begin(), v.end(), std::mt19937 {std::random_device{}()});
 
    std::cout << "Original contents of the list l:\t";
    for (auto const& n : l) std::cout << std::setw(2) << n << ' ';
    std::cout << '\n';
 
    std::cout << "Contents of l, viewed via shuffled v:\t";
    for (auto const i : v) std::cout << std::setw(2) << *i << ' ';
    std::cout << '\n';
}

Possible output:

Original contents of the list l:        -4 -3 -2 -1  0  1  2  3  4  5
Contents of l, viewed via shuffled v:   -1  5 -4  0  2  1  4 -2  3 -3

See also

(C++20)
a view consisting of a sequence generated by repeatedly incrementing an initial value
(class template) (customization point object)
copy-assigns the given value to every element in a range
(function template)
(C++20)
assigns a range of elements a certain value
(niebloid)
assigns the results of successive function calls to every element in a range
(function template)
(C++20)
saves the result of a function in a range
(niebloid)
(C++23)
fills a range with successive increments of the starting value
(niebloid)

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