The following code example is taken from the book
The C++ Standard Library - A Tutorial and Reference
by Nicolai M. Josuttis, Addison-Wesley, 1999
© Copyright Nicolai M. Josuttis 1999
#include <iostream>
#include <set>
#include <list>
#include <algorithm>
#include "print.hpp"
using namespace std;
int main()
{
set<int> coll;
// create insert iterator for coll
// - inconvenient way
insert_iterator<set<int> > iter(coll,coll.begin());
// insert elements with the usual iterator interface
*iter = 1;
iter++;
*iter = 2;
iter++;
*iter = 3;
PRINT_ELEMENTS(coll,"set: ");
// create inserter and insert elements
// - convenient way
inserter(coll,coll.end()) = 44;
inserter(coll,coll.end()) = 55;
PRINT_ELEMENTS(coll,"set: ");
// use inserter to insert all elements into a list
list<int> coll2;
copy (coll.begin(), coll.end(), // source
inserter(coll2,coll2.begin())); // destination
PRINT_ELEMENTS(coll2,"list: ");
// use inserter to reinsert all elements into the list before the second element
copy (coll.begin(), coll.end(), // source
inserter(coll2,++coll2.begin())); // destination
PRINT_ELEMENTS(coll2,"list: ");
}