auto from const std::vector<>&; object or reference?

Question

suppose we have an object with the following interface:

struct Node_t {
 ... const std::vector< something >& getChilds() const;
 } node;
         


        

Answer 1

The type of childs will be std::vector.

auto is powered by the same rules as template type deduction. The type picked here is the same that would get picked for template f(T t); in a call like f(node->getChilds()).

Similarly, auto& would get you the same type that would get picked by template f(T& t);, and auto&& would get you the same type that would get picked by template f(T&& t);.

The same applies for all other combinations, like auto const& or auto*.