Use a regular iterator to iterate backwards, or struggle with reverse_iterator?

Question

I recently learned about the right way to work with reverse iterators in C++ (specifically when you need to erase one). (See this question and this one.)

This is ho

Answer 1

The reason for reverse iterators is that the standard algorithms do not know how to iterate over a collection backwards. For example:

#include <string>
#include <algorithm>
std::wstring foo(L"This is a test, with two letter a's involved.");
std::find(foo.begin(), foo.end(), L'a'); // Returns an iterator pointing
                                        // to the first a character.
std::find(foo.rbegin(), foo.rend(), L'a').base()-1; //Returns an iterator
                                                 // pointing to the last A.
std::find(foo.end(), foo.begin(), L'a'); //WRONG!! (Buffer overrun)

Use whichever iterator results in clearer code.

Answer 2

For what it's worth, Scott Meyers' Effective STL recommends that you just stick with a regular ol' iterator (Item 26).