C++ catching dangling reference

Question

Suppose the following piece of code

struct S {
    S(int & value): value_(value) {}
    int & value_;
};

S function() {
    int value = 0;
    retur         


        

Answer 1

I think this is not possible to catch all these, although some compilers may give warnings in some cases.

It's as well to remember that references are really pointers under the hood, and many of the shoot-self-in-foot scenarios possible with pointers are still possible..

To clarify what I mean about "pointers under the hood", take the following two classes. One uses references, the other pointers.

class Ref
{
  int &ref;
public:
  Ref(int &r) : ref(r) {};
  int get() { return ref; };
};

class Ptr
{
  int *ptr;
public:
  Ptr(int *p) : ptr(p) {};
  int get() { return *ptr; };
};

Now, compare at the generated code for the two.

@@Ref@$bctr$qri proc    near  // Ref::Ref(int &ref)
    push      ebp
    mov       ebp,esp
    mov       eax,dword ptr [ebp+8]
    mov       edx,dword ptr [ebp+12]
    mov       dword ptr [eax],edx
    pop       ebp
    ret 

@@Ptr@$bctr$qpi proc    near  // Ptr::Ptr(int *ptr)
    push      ebp
    mov       ebp,esp
    mov       eax,dword ptr [ebp+8]
    mov       edx,dword ptr [ebp+12]
    mov       dword ptr [eax],edx
    pop       ebp
    ret 

@@Ref@get$qv    proc    near // int Ref:get()
    push      ebp
    mov       ebp,esp
    mov       eax,dword ptr [ebp+8]
    mov       eax,dword ptr [eax]
    mov       eax,dword ptr [eax]
    pop       ebp
    ret 

@@Ptr@get$qv    proc    near // int Ptr::get()
    push      ebp
    mov       ebp,esp
    mov       eax,dword ptr [ebp+8]
    mov       eax,dword ptr [eax]
    mov       eax,dword ptr [eax]
    pop       ebp
    ret 

Spot the difference? There isn't any.