Home » Tip Bank » C++ » Functions

Language: C++
Expertise: Intermediate

Jun 28, 2005

Usually, you pass const reference parameters to functions like this:

class OneKind;
class AnotherKind;

class Example{
   public:
      Example( const OneKind &inParam );		
// conversion operator
      Example( const Example &inOriginal );		
// copy constructor
      
      const Example &operator=( const Example& inRhs ); 
// assignment operator
      
      void MemberFunc( const AnotherKind &inParam );
};

There are many reasons for passing const references—for performance and to preserve polymorphism, as well as to indicate that the object is guaranteed to exist. But if you might be passing a non-existent object, pass a pointer instead—with the understanding that it might be null