CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++
Xavier
Xavier

Reputation: 9049

Can I return an array by value in C++?

Can I return an array by value in C++? By value I mean returning a copy instead of using a pointer. If so can someone provide an example of returning a 1d array and a 2d array?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 179

Answers (3)

jli
jli

Reputation: 6623

No this is impossible, unless you use some kind of custom array class (such as std::array as mentioned by Matteo Italia). Arrays in C/C++ are treated in much the same way as pointers.

Upvotes: 1

iammilind
iammilind

Reputation: 69988

No this is not allowed in C/C++ .

You can return array by reference, if it's not local to function. The other work around is to wrap it inside a 'struct/class' wrapper and return its object.

Upvotes: 1

Matteo Italia
Matteo Italia

Reputation: 126787

No; you can return arrays by value only by wrapping them inside a struct or a class (actually, you can simply return an appropriate instance of std::array, which encapsulates a C-style array inside a template class which provides also some bells and whistles).

Upvotes: 6

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