C++ Standard Library, The: A Tutorial and Reference, 2nd Edition

Chapter 9. STL Iterators

This chapter describes iterators in detail. It covers iterator categories, iterator-specific operations, iterator adapters, and user-defined iterators.

9.1. Header Files for Iterators

All containers define their own iterator types, so you don’t need a special header file for using iterators of containers. However, several definitions for special iterators, such as reverse iterators, and some auxiliary iterator functions are introduced by the <iterator> header file. Some implementations include this header file for any container to define its reverse iterator types. This, however, is not portable. Thus, when you need more than ordinary container iterators and their types, you should include this header.

9.2. Iterator Categories ...