*s.begin()
, but same argument can be used for vector
, which has front
/back
I imagine that the words "front" and "back" are reserved for sequence containers (i.e. those where the order of elements is determined by the order of insertion), and the words are meant to suggest a physical position in that sequence.
Since set
is not a sequence container (but instead an associative container), this isn't appropriate. In particular, note that the meaning of "front" can change by later insertions of an unrelated element.