Returning a const reference to an object instead of a copy

Question

Whilst refactoring some code I came across some getter methods that returns a std::string. Something like this for example:

class foo
{
private:
    std::st         


        

Answer 1

Odds are pretty good that typical usage of that function won't break if you change to a const reference.

If all of the code calling that function is under your control, just make the change and see if the compiler complains.