Re: [boost] [smart_ptr] const-correctness as function argument

From: Peter Dimov (pdimov_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-10-02 07:07:00

From: "David B. Held" <dheld_at_[hidden]>
> It seems to me that smart pointers present a bit of a problem when it
> comes time to pass them as arguments to a function.  Consider a
> case with raw pointers:
> 
> class foo
> {
> public:
>     int bar() const { return bar_; }
>     void baz(int n) { bar_ = n; }
> private:
>     int bar_;
> };
> 
> void g(foo const* p)
> {
>     p->bar();
>     p->baz(3); // Error!
> }
> 
> We can, of course, call foo::bar(), because it is a const function.  We
> cannot call foo::baz(), because it is not const.  Now, consider the case
> with, say, shared_ptr<>:
> 
> typedef shared_ptr<foo> foo_ptr;

typedef foo * foo_ptr;

> void g(foo_ptr const& p)
> {
>     p->bar();
>     p->baz(3); // No Error!

Ditto.

> }