Hi,

As the function accepted by for_each take only one parameter (the element of the vector), I have to define a static int sum = 0 somewhere so that It can be accessed after calling the for_each . I think this is awkward. Any better way to do this (still use for_each) ?

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

using namespace std;

static int sum = 0;
void add_f(int i )
{
    sum += i * i;

}
void test_using_for_each()
{
    int arr[] = {1,2,3,4};
    vector<int> a (arr ,arr + sizeof(arr)/sizeof(arr[0]));

    for_each( a.begin(),a.end(), add_f);
    cout << "sum of the square of the element is  " << sum << endl;
}

In Ruby, We can do it this way:

sum = 0
[1,2,3,4].each { |i| sum += i*i}   #local variable can be used in the callback function
puts sum    #=> 30

Would you please show more examples how for_each is typically used in practical programming (not just print out each element)? Is it possible use for_each simulate 'programming pattern' like map and inject in Ruby (or map /fold in Haskell).

#map in ruby 
>> [1,2,3,4].map  {|i| i*i} 
=> [1, 4, 9, 16]

#inject in ruby 
[1, 4, 9, 16].inject(0)  {|aac ,i| aac +=i}  #=> 30

EDIT: Thank you all. I have learned so much from your replies. We have so many ways to do the same single thing in C++ , which makes it a little bit difficult to learn. But it's interesting :)