C++ const method on non const pointer member

Question

I was wondering how protect a non const pointer member from an object throught a const method. For example:

class B{
    public:
        B(){
            thi         


        

Answer 1

Try using the following general approach, to protect the const-ness of objects referenced via pointers, in this situation.

1. Rename B *b

   B *my_pointer_to_b;
   

   And change the initialization in the constructor accordingly.

2. Implement two stubs:

   B *my_b() { return b; }
   const B *my_b() const { return b; }
   

3. Replace all existing references to b with my_b(), in the existing code. Going forward, in any new code, always use my_b() to return the pointer to b.

Mutable methods will get a non-const pointer to B; const methods will get a const pointer to B, and the extra step of renaming makes sure that all existing code is forced to comply with the new regime.