Returning by const value
A similar truth holds for the return
value. If you say that a function’s return value is
const:
const int g();
you are promising that the original
variable (inside the function frame) will not be modified. And again, because
you’re returning it by value, it’s copied so the original value
could never be modified via the return value.
At first, this can make the specification
of const seem meaningless. You can see the apparent lack of effect of
returning consts by value in this example:
//: C08:Constval.cpp
// Returning consts by value
// has no meaning for built-in types
int f3() { return 1; }
const int f4() { return 1; }
int main() {
const int j = f3(); // Works fine
int k = f4(); // But this works fine too!
} ///:~
For built-in types, it doesn’t
matter whether you return by value as a const, so you should avoid
confusing the client programmer and leave off the const when returning a
built-in type by value.
Returning by value as a const
becomes important when you’re dealing with user-defined types. If a
function returns a class object by value as a const, the return value of
that function cannot be an lvalue (that is, it cannot be
assigned to or otherwise modified). For example:
//: C08:ConstReturnValues.cpp
// Constant return by value
// Result cannot be used as an lvalue
class X {
int i;
public:
X(int ii = 0);
void modify();
};
X::X(int ii) { i = ii; }
void X::modify() { i++; }
X f5() {
return X();
}
const X f6() {
return X();
}
void f7(X& x) { // Pass by non-const reference
x.modify();
}
int main() {
f5() = X(1); // OK -- non-const return value
f5().modify(); // OK
//! f7(f5()); // Causes warning or error
// Causes compile-time errors:
//! f7(f5());
//! f6() = X(1);
//! f6().modify();
//! f7(f6());
} ///:~
f5( ) returns a
non-const X object, while f6( ) returns a const
X object. Only the non-const return value can be used as an lvalue.
Thus, it’s important to use const when returning an object by value
if you want to prevent its use as an lvalue.
The reason const has no meaning
when you’re returning a built-in type by value is that the compiler
already prevents it from being an lvalue (because it’s always a value, and
not a variable). Only when you’re returning objects of user-defined types
by value does it become an issue.
The function f7( ) takes its
argument as a non-const reference (an additional way of handling
addresses in C++ and the subject of Chapter 11). This is effectively the same as
taking a non-const pointer; it’s just that the syntax is different.
The reason this won’t compile in C++ is because of the creation of a
temporary.
