Error: Qualifiers dropped in binding reference of type x to initializer of type y

Question

why does the following throw this error:

IntelliSense: qualifiers dropped in binding reference of type \"string &\" to initializer of type \"con

Answer 1

By returning a non-const reference to a member of your class, you are giving the caller access to the object as if it's non const. But GetTitle, being a const function, does not have the right to grant that access.

For example:

A a;
string& b = a.GetTitle(); // Allows control over original variable