[lonelappde]

It's an algorithm problem, not a C++ problem. Also, iterators prevent random access. You can always get iterators from a vector if you need them. And mutability is provided for convenience and because const doesn't matter in this situation.

[jdsully]

Perhaps your not aware of C++ random_access iterators? You can indeed do random access with iterators and this functionality is integral to many standard library algorithms.

http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/iterator/RandomAccessIter...

[rwem]

See that’s the kind of information I want to surface in an interview: candidate thinks C++ doesn’t have random-access iteration. No hire.