Write a program that reads a series of strings and prints only those strings beginning with the letter "b."

Using C++ for-loops is crucial when you need to perform an action repeatedly on a set of elements, such as processing each string in a list, as seen in the exercise. A for-loop has three main components: the initializer to set up the loop, the condition that must remain true for the loop to continue, and the iterator to update the loop variable after each iteration.

For example, for(int i = 0; i < list.size(); ++i) will start with i at 0 and increment it by 1 until it reaches the size of the list. In our string manipulation task, the loop iterates over a collection of strings, checking each one to see if it meets specific criteria. This structure is highly efficient for automating repetitive checks and actions on collections of data.

The C++ if-statement is a decision-making statement that allows the program to take different actions depending on whether a condition is true or false. In the context of string manipulation, an if-statement can determine if a certain condition about a string is met. For instance, if(str[0] == 'b') checks whether the first character of the string str is the letter 'b'.

If the condition evaluates to true, the program executes the code block within the if-statement, which, in our exercise, means printing the string. The use of an if-statement is essential for filtering and selecting data based on specific criteria, as it precisely controls the flow of execution within a loop or any part of the program.

The topic of C++ string handling involves multiple operations you can perform on strings like accessing characters, comparing, or modifying the string. C++ provides the string class, which comes with a range of built-in methods to facilitate these operations.

In the context of string manipulation, accessing the first character can be done using square brackets, str[0], which returns the character at position 0, the beginning of the string. This is essential for the solution in our exercise. Managing strings effectively is a fundamental part of programming in C++ as it enables developers to work with textual data, analyze content, and perform numerous other essential computational tasks.