Question

If I have a vector as a private member in my class, what’s the best way to access it? For example, take the following simple class

class MCL{
    private:
    std::vector my_vec;

    public:
    // Include constructor here and other member functions
}

What’s the best way to access my_vec? Specifically, I would like to use a getter function to access it.

Answer 1

return it by const reference, or just by reference if you want to allow changing.

const std::vector<T> & getVector() const
{
    return vector;
}

usage:

const std::vector<T> &v = myClass.getVector();