Iterators are a technique and are not bound to any particular programming language. Iterators abstract the idea of iterating through data. Instead of keeping tr

Iterators are a technique and are not bound to any particular programming language. Iterators abstract the idea of iterating through data. Instead of keeping track of the array index and thinking of it in terms of counting up or down, you instead create an iterator that will abstract this for you. You can create iterators to traverse the array in forward, backwards, every odd number, whatever way you want. Then you write your client code to operate on an iterator, and so completely separate the traversal of the sequence from the action to be performed on each element. Another useful abstraction in this context are list comprehensions (map, filter, reduce, etc.). You can create iterators in any language, and I was referring to the abstract concept of iterators, not the particular form of iterators found in C++'s standard library.