[#BloombergLP-bdlc-CompactedArray-begin]
= xref:BloombergLP.adoc[BloombergLP]::xref:BloombergLP/bdlc.adoc[bdlc]::xref:BloombergLP/bdlc/CompactedArray.adoc[CompactedArray]::begin
:relfileprefix: ../../../
:mrdocs:

Return an iterator referring to the first element in this array.

== Synopsis

Declared in `<bdlc_compactedarray.h>`

[source,cpp,subs="verbatim,replacements,macros,-callouts"]
----
xref:BloombergLP/bdlc/CompactedArray/const_iterator.adoc[CompactedArray<TYPE>::const_iterator]
begin() const;
----

== Description

Return an iterator referring to the first element in this array, or the past‐the‐end iterator if this array is empty. The iterator remains valid as long as this array exists.

== Return Value

iterator to the first element, or `end()` if empty


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