仅通过迭代器删除STL容器元素

Question

Is there a way to delete an element from an STL container (be it list , vector , ...) only via an iterator pointing to the element to be deleted, but without providing the container object it resides in (ie without directly using the container memberfunction container<T>::iterator container<T>.erase(container<T>::iterator) ?

(Follow-up to this question )

Answer 1

No, this is not possible.

Imagine what would have to happen in order for the standard to provide a way to do this. std::vector<T>::iterator could not be a simple T* . Instead it would have to contain enough information for the library to be able to "find" the vector to which it belongs, such as a pointer to the vector itself. Thus, if the standard imposed a requirement to make it possible to delete an element given only an iterator, it would force the standard library to add overhead that would slow down all users of the container.