# std::forward_list<T,Allocator>::front

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< cpp‎ | container‎ | forward list

reference front(); | (1) | (since C++11)
const_reference front() const; | (2) | (since C++11)

Returns a reference to the first element in the container.

Calling `front` on an empty container causes undefined behavior.

### Parameters

(none)

### Return value

reference to the first element

### Complexity

Constant

### Notes

For a container `c`, the expression c.front() is equivalent to *c.begin().

### Example

The following code uses `front` to display the first element of a std::forward_list<char>:

Run this code

    #include <forward_list>
    #include <iostream>

    int main()
    {
        std::forward_list<char> letters {'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f'};

        if (!letters.empty())
            std::cout << "The first character is '" << letters.front() << "'.\n";
    }

Output:

    The first character is 'a'.

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