CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++referenceconstants
user6435212
user6435212

Reputation: 95

what is const keyword necessary

My code does not compile.

int foobar()
{
    // code
    return 5;
}

int main()
{
   int &p = foobar(); // error
   // code

   const int& x = foobar(); //compiles
}

Why does adding the keyword const make the code compile?

Upvotes: 4

Views: 199

Answers (3)

Steve Jessop
Steve Jessop

Reputation: 279395

As others have said, you can take a const but not a non-const reference to a temporary.

In practice there would be dangers in allowing non-const references to temporaries:

#include <iostream>
void foo(int &i) {
    i = 5;
}

int main() {
    long l = 4;
    foo(l);
    std::cout << l << "\n";
}

Now, l can be implicitly converted to int, so if a non-const reference to temporary were allowed here, then presumably foo would be passed a reference to the result of that conversion, same as it actually is if foo takes const int &. The assignment would be made to the temporary and then discarded when the temporary is destroyed. That's much more likely to be a confusing bug than it is to be the intended result.

I don't know if there's a neat set of rules to allow non-const references to temporaries in some situations but not in the dangerous/annoying ones, but even if so the C++ standard didn't include them. Note that C++0x has rvalue references, which allow you to do some extra things with temporaries that can't be done in C++03.

Upvotes: 2

Prasoon Saurav
Prasoon Saurav

Reputation: 92924

In C++ temporaries cannot be bound to non-constant references.

In 

 int &p = foobar();

The rvalue expression foobar() generates a temporary which cannot be bound to p because it is a non-const reference.

 const int &x = foobar();

Attaching the temporary to x which is a reference to const prolongs its lifetime. It is perfectly legal.

Upvotes: 9

Oliver Charlesworth
Oliver Charlesworth

Reputation: 272762

Because foobar() is returning by value; this result is a temporary. You cannot have a non-constant reference of a temporary.

If this were not true, what would this code do?

int &x = foobar();

x = 1;  // Where are we writing to?

Upvotes: 4

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