Iterator Dereferencing

Question

I am using a vector in c++,

vector<Agents> agentlist;

Why does this work,

(agentlist.begin() )->print();

and this not?

*(agentlist.begin() ).print();

Isn't it valid to dereference an iterator using *?

Answer 1

See operator Precedence, . has higher precedence than *

*(agentlist.begin()).print();

represents as:

*((agentlist.begin()).print());

While iterator has no .print() function call, compiler will throw out compile error.

You need:

 agentlist.begin()->print();  or  (*agentlist.begin()).print();