Question

I have been wondering if it is valid c++ if I return something from a method by reference, while the method is actually declared to return by value:

class A {
public:
    int method(){
        int i = 123;
        int& iref = i;
        return iref;
    }
};

This compiles fine and seems to work. From what I understand this should return by value, as declared in the method’s signature. I do not want to end up returning a reference to the local variable. Does anyone know if this is ‘proper c++ code’ without traps?

Answer 1

This is a perfectly valid C++ code and does exactly what you expect it to do:

• Have a local variable
• Have a local reference to that local variable
• Make a copy of the variable referenced to by your local reference
• Return that copy to a caller (unwind stack, destroying both local variable and a reference to it)

Don’t worry, you will not end up returning a reference to a local variable this way.