What is the find_end() function in C++?

The find_end() function in C++ helps to find for a sequence of elements that is present at the last inside an array/vector. This function is available in the <algorithm.h> header file.

Parameters

The find_end() function accepts the following parameters:

  • first1, last1: These are the iterators pointing to the initial and final position of the array/vector where the search operation needs to be performed.

  • first2, last2: These are the iterators pointing to the initial and final position of the array/vector that needs to be searched.

  • pred: This is an optional parameter that specifies a binary function returning a boolean value which indicates how to perform the search.

Return value

The find_end() function returns an iterator that points to the last occurrence of the sequence in the range [first2, last2) in the sequence [first1, last1). If the value is not found, then it returns an iterator to the last1 of the array or vector.

Code

Let’s look at the code now.

#include <iostream>
#include <algorithm>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;
int main () {
  vector<int> vec = {1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5};
  int seq[] = {1,2,3};
  auto it = find_end(vec.begin(), vec.end(), seq, seq + 3);
  if (it!=vec.end())
    cout << "Sequence found at last position " << (it-vec.begin());
  else
    cout << "Sequence not found";  
  return 0;
}

Explanation:

  • From lines 1 to 3, we import the required libraries.
  • In line 7, we create a vector with some integer values.
  • In line 9, we define the sequence that we want to search in the vector.
  • In line 10, we call the find_end() function and pass all the required parameters.
  • In line 12, we check whether the sequence is found or not. If the sequence is not found, then the value of it will point to the end of the vector.
  • In line 13, we print the index from where the sequence starts, and this index will point to the last occurrence of the sequence.
  • In line 15, we print if the sequence is not found.

Now, let’s look at the code in which we will use a binary predicate to perform the find operation.

#include <iostream>
#include <algorithm>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;
bool pred (int i, int j) {
  return (i==j);
}
int main () {
  vector<int> vec = {1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5};
  int seq[] = {1,2,4};
  auto it = find_end(vec.begin(), vec.end(), seq, seq + 3, pred);
  if (it!=vec.end())
    cout << "Sequence found at last position " << (it-vec.begin());
  else
    cout << "Sequence not found";  
  return 0;
}

Explanation:

  • From lines 1 to 3, we import the required libraries.
  • From lines 6 to 8, we create a binary function that accepts two integers and returns a boolean value.
  • From lines 11, we create a vector with some integer values.
  • In line 13, we define the sequence that we want to search in the vector.
  • In line 14, we call the find_end() function and pass all the required parameters.
  • In line 16, we check on whether the sequence is found or not. If the sequence is not found, then the value of it will point to the end of the vector.
  • In line 17, we print the index from where the sequence starts, and this index will point to the last occurrence of the sequence.
  • In line 19, we print if the sequence is not found.

So, in this way, we can use the find_end() function in C++.

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