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# std::array::front

From cppreference.com
< cpp‎ | container‎ | array

[edit template]

reference front(); |  | (until C++17)
constexpr reference front(); |  | (since C++17)
const_reference front() const; |  | (until C++14)
constexpr const_reference front() const; |  | (since C++14)

Returns a reference to the first element in the container.

Calling `front` on an empty container is undefined.

### [edit] Parameters

(none)

### [edit] Return value

reference to the first element

### [edit] Complexity

Constant

### [edit] Notes

For a container `c`, the expression c.front() is equivalent to *c.begin().

### [edit] Example

The following code uses `front` to display the first element of a std::array<char>:

Run this code

    #include <array>
    #include <iostream>

    int main()
    {
        std::array<char> letters {'o', 'm', 'g', 'w', 't', 'f'};

        if (!letters.empty()) {
            std::cout << "The first character is: " << letters.front() << '\n';
        }
    }

Output:

    The first character is o

### See also

back | access the last element (public member function) [edit]

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