diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f20737e..695fd6f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -22,3 +22,4 @@ sophia
 test-db/
 sphia-test-db/
 output/
+examples/iteration
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d599474..90c937f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ VERSION_MINOR = 1
 DEPS = $(shell test -d deps/ && ls deps/)
 DEP_OBJS = $(wildcard deps/*/*.o)
 
+EXAMPLE_SRCS = $(wildcard examples/*.c)
+EXAMPLES = $(EXAMPLE_SRCS:.c=)
+
 TARGET_NAME = lib$(LIB_NAME)
 TARGET_STATIC = $(TARGET_NAME).a
 TARGET_DSOLIB = $(TARGET_NAME).so.$(VERSION_MAJOR).$(VERSION_MINOR)
@@ -103,6 +106,14 @@ test: $(TEST_OBJS)
 		-lsophia -lpthread
 	@./$(TEST_MAIN)
 
+examples: $(EXAMPLES)
+$(EXAMPLES): all
+	@echo "  CC(target) $@.c"
+	@$(CC) ./$(TARGET_STATIC) \
+		-lsophia -lpthread $(CFLAGS) \
+		-DSPHIA_TEST_DB='"$(TEST_DB_PATH)"' \
+		$@.c -o $(@)
+
 travis:
 	rm -rf sophia
 	git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/pmwkaa/sophia.git sophia
@@ -120,12 +131,11 @@ clean:
 		$(TEST_MAIN) $(OBJS) $(TEST_OBJS) $(TARGET_STATIC) \
 		$(TARGET_DSOLIB) $(TARGET_DSO).$(VERSION_MAJOR) \
 		$(TARGET_DSO) $(TARGET_DYLIB) $(TEST_DB_PATH) \
-		test-db sophia output; do \
+		$(EXAMPLES) test-db sophia output; do \
 		echo "  RM $$item"; \
 		$(RM) -rf $$item; \
 	done;
 
-
 install: all
 	test -d $(PREFIX)/$(DESTDIR) || mkdir $(PREFIX)/$(DESTDIR)
 	install $(LIB_NAME).h $(PREFIX)/include
@@ -138,4 +148,4 @@ uninstall:
 	rm -f $(PREFIX)/lib/$(TARGET_STATIC)
 	rm -f $(PREFIX)/lib/$(TARGET_DSO)
 
-.PHONY: test deps
+.PHONY: test deps examples
diff --git a/examples/iteration.c b/examples/iteration.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e2dc58f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/iteration.c
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <sphia.h>
+
+#define error_and_exit() {                            \
+  fprintf(stderr, "error: %s\n", sphia_error(sphia)); \
+  exit(1);                                            \
+}
+
+
+int
+main (void) {
+  sphia_t *sphia = sphia_new(SPHIA_TEST_DB);
+  if (NULL == sphia) error_and_exit();
+
+  // set 100 key/value pairs, just for something to iterate
+  for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
+    char *key = malloc(16);
+    char *value = malloc(16);
+
+    sprintf(key, "key%03d", i);
+    sprintf(value, "value%03d", i);
+
+    if (-1 == sphia_set(sphia, key, value)) error_and_exit();
+  }
+
+  // create our iterator
+  sphia_iterator_t *iterator = sphia_iterator_new(sphia);
+  if (NULL == iterator) error_and_exit();
+
+  sphia_iterator_node_t *node;
+  // loop until we hit the end
+  while ((node = sphia_iterator_next(iterator))) {
+    printf("%s =  '%s'\n", node->key, node->value);
+    // cleanup the node
+    sphia_iterator_node_free(node);
+  }
+
+  // close the iterator
+  sphia_iterator_free(iterator);
+
+  // close the db
+  sphia_free(sphia);
+  return 0;
+}