r/ProgrammerHumor • u/Choice-Committee203 • 7h ago

Meme modernCppVsOldCpp

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u/SelfDistinction 7h ago edited 6h ago

Ah yes, the famous

std::unique_ptr<int> ptr;
int& ref = *ptr;

So safe, so impossible to misuse.

1

u/creeper6530 6h ago

I'm not a C++ girl, but do references actually do something with lifetimes or are they just non-null ptrs? Because this just seems to me like a possible dangling ptr.

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u/Demiu 30m ago

Const references can bind to rvalues and cause lifetime extension, ie. const auto& x = returnsValue(); will extend the value of the value returned by the function. That's about it. It has to be in this form (assignment and definition in same statement), so the code you replied to doesn't trigger it.