Const Functions and Interfaces in C++
- by 58gh1z
I'll use the following (trivial) interface as an example:
struct IObject
{
virtual ~IObject() {}
virtual std::string GetName() const = 0;
virtual void ChangeState() = 0;
};
Logic dictates that GetName should be a const member function while ChangeState shouldn't.
All code that I've seen so far doesn't follow this logic, though. That is, GetName in the example above wouldn't be marked as a const member function.
Is this laziness/carelessness or is there a legitimate reason for this? What are the major cons of me forcing my clients to implement const member functions when they are logically called for?
