std::vector<T,Allocator>::back

reference back();
const_reference back() const;

Returns reference to the last element in the container.

Calling back on an empty container is undefined.

Parameters

(none).

Return value

Reference to the last element.

Complexity

Constant.

Notes

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

Example

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

#include <vector>
#include <iostream>
 
int main()
{
    std::vector<char> letters {'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f'};
    if (!letters.empty()) {
        std::cout << "The last character is: " << letters.back() << '\n';
    }  
}

Output:

The last character is f

See also

access the first element
(public member function)

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