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# std::list::back

From cppreference.com
< cpp‎ | container‎ | list

[edit template]

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

Returns reference to the last element in the container.

Calling `back` on an empty container is undefined.

### [edit] Parameters

(none)

### [edit] Return value

Reference to the last element.

### [edit] Complexity

Constant.

### [edit] Notes

For a container `c`, the expression return c.back(); is equivalent to { auto tmp = c.end(); --tmp; return *tmp; }

### [edit] Example

The following code uses `back` to display the last element of a std::list<char>:

Run this code

    #include <list>
    #include <iostream>

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

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

Output:

    The last character is f

### [edit] See also

front | access the first element (public member function) [edit]

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