A bracket – [ or ] – means that end of the range is inclusive — it includes the element listed. A parenthesis – ( or ) – means that end is exclusive and doesn’t contain the listed element. So for [first1, last1), the range starts with first1 (and includes it), but ends just before last1.
Assuming integers:
- (0, 5) = 1, 2, 3, 4
- (0, 5] = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- [0, 5) = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
- [0, 5] = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5