"Dan Sugalski" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>Why not take a page from C++ and call "previous" and "next" C<inc> and >C<dec>, and then C<deref> to get what it points to.
Because ++ and -- affect the value not the container. (There are days when I think "C++ does it like..." is the near-perfect argument against doing it one particular way... :) Next and previous are actions on the container.
Whatever you name the next/previous operations, you need a way to distinguish operations on the container from operations on the containee -- i.e. the C<deref> operator. Otherwise how would you iterate over a list of iterators?
Erm... you iterate over the list, and as it returns its contents you iterate over that?
Personally, I like the flexibility of the C++ approach (though some of its limitations will hopefully be fixed in a future iteration of the standard). Being able to add/subtract values other than 'one' to/from an iterator can be useful, especially when iterating over an array. Then C<reset> can be implemented by subtracting the current C<pos>; and C<last> is implemented by adding "size-pos" (modulo an out-by-one error).
These are just methods. (I don't believe I just said that...) We can always enhance the protocol later.
Incidentally, the ability to implement C<reset> implies that an iterator has some way of finding its parent container.
Hell, the ability of iterators to iterate implies that the iterator has a hold on its parent container. This is just fine with me. (And it makes sense as the normal way to iterate over a container--it's the way that springs to mind first, at least for me)
--
Dan
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Dan Sugalski even samurai
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