Searches the range [first, last) for two consecutive equal elements.

1) Elements are compared using operator==.

3) Elements are compared using the given binary predicate p.

2,4) Same as (1,3), but executed according to policy.

Parameters

Return value

An iterator to the first of the first pair of identical elements, that is, the first iterator it such that *it == *(it + 1) for (1,2) or p(*it, *(it + 1)) != false for (3,4).

If no such elements are found, last is returned.

Complexity

Given result as the return value of adjacent_find, M as std::distance(first, result) and N as std::distance(first, last):

1) Exactly min(M+1,N-1) comparisons using operator==.

2) O(N) comparisons using operator==.

3) Exactly min(M+1,N-1) applications of the predicate p.

4) O(N) applications of the predicate p.

Exceptions

The overloads with a template parameter named ExecutionPolicy report errors as follows:

• If execution of a function invoked as part of the algorithm throws an exception and ExecutionPolicy is one of the standard policies, std::terminate is called. For any other ExecutionPolicy, the behavior is implementation-defined.
• If the algorithm fails to allocate memory, std::bad_alloc is thrown.

Possible implementation

template<class ForwardIt>
ForwardIt adjacent_find(ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last)
{
    if (first == last)
        return last;
    
    ForwardIt next = first;
    ++next;
    
    for (; next != last; ++next, ++first)
        if (*first == *next)
            return first;
    
    return last;
}

template<class ForwardIt, class BinaryPred>
ForwardIt adjacent_find(ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last, BinaryPred p)
{
    if (first == last)
        return last;
    
    ForwardIt next = first;
    ++next;
    
    for (; next != last; ++next, ++first)
        if (p(*first, *next))
            return first;
    
    return last;
}

Example

#include <algorithm>
#include <functional>
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>

int main()
{
    std::vector<int> v1{0, 1, 2, 3, 40, 40, 41, 41, 5};
    
    auto i1 = std::adjacent_find(v1.begin(), v1.end());
    
    if (i1 == v1.end())
        std::cout << "No matching adjacent elements\n";
    else
        std::cout << "The first adjacent pair of equal elements is at "
                  << std::distance(v1.begin(), i1) << ", *i1 = "
                  << *i1 << '\n';
    
    auto i2 = std::adjacent_find(v1.begin(), v1.end(), std::greater<int>());
    if (i2 == v1.end())
        std::cout << "The entire vector is sorted in ascending order\n";
    else
        std::cout << "The last element in the non-decreasing subsequence is at "
                  << std::distance(v1.begin(), i2) << ", *i2 = " << *i2 << '\n';
}

The first adjacent pair of equal elements is at 4, *i1 = 40
The last element in the non-decreasing subsequence is at 7, *i2 = 41

Defect reports

The following behavior-changing defect reports were applied retroactively to previously published C++ standards.

See also