Trying out building a Range class in C++

range.cpp

// clang++ -std=c++11 -o range range.cpp && ./range

// Based on http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7185437/is-there-a-range-class-in-c11-for-use-with-range-based-for-loops
// However https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generator_%28computer_programming%29#C.2B.2B is a way simpler example

#include <iostream>

template <class T>
class RangeClass {
public:
  class Iterator {
    friend class RangeClass;
  public:
    T operator *() const { return _i; }
    const Iterator &operator ++() { ++_i; return *this; }
    // Iterator operator ++(int) { Iterator copy(*this); ++_i; return copy; }
    // bool operator ==(const Iterator &other) const { return _i == other._i; }
    bool operator !=(const Iterator &other) const { return _i != other._i; }
  protected:
    Iterator(T start) : _i(start) {}

  private:
    T _i;
  };

  RangeClass(T start_value, T last_value)
    : start_value(start_value), end_value(last_value + 1) {}

  Iterator begin() const { return Iterator(start_value); }
  Iterator end() const { return Iterator(end_value); }

private:
  T start_value;
  T end_value;
};

template <class T>
const RangeClass<T> range(T start_value, T last_value) {
  return RangeClass<T>(start_value, last_value);
}

int main(void) {
  for (auto i : range(1, 8)) {
    std::cout << i << std::endl;
  }

  return 0;
}