C++ Tip: Modification Inside const Function

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Introduction

There are times where modification inside const member function must be done (for example, to allow for caching or memoization). The mutable keyword and const_cast are well-known in the C++ circles to work around these. The 3^rd way is to use a const pointer; we cannot modify the const pointer but we can modify the contents it pointed to. Let's dive in and discover for ourselves.

mutable Keyword

We will do a quick recap on the mutable keyword. A lock have to be acquired on mutex. So by declaring the mutex mutable, it can be used inside a const function.

class MyClass1
{
public:
    MyClass1(int value) : m_Value(value) {}

    int GetValue() const
    {
        std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(m_Mutex);
        return m_Value;
    }
private:
    int m_Value;
    mutable std::mutex m_Mutex;
};

int GetValue(const MyClass1& c)
{
    return c.GetValue();
}

Cast Away Constness

Next example, we will declare the member function as non-const and do a const_cast(). Typically C++ developers who do not know the mutable keyword will use this technique.

class MyClass2
{
public:
    MyClass2(int value) : m_Value(value) {}

    int GetValue() // not const
    {
        std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(m_Mutex);
        return m_Value;
    }
private:
    int m_Value;
    std::mutex m_Mutex;
};
int GetValue(const MyClass2& c)
{
    MyClass2& c2 = const_cast<MyClass2&>(c); // cast away the constness
    return c2.GetValue();
}

Const Pointer to Member

As advertised, the data member can be modified though the member pointer.

class MyClass3
{
public:
    MyClass3(int value) : m_Value(value), m_pMutex(&m_Mutex) {}

    int GetValue() const
    {
        std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(*m_pMutex);
        return m_Value;
    }
private:
    int m_Value;
    std::mutex m_Mutex;
    std::mutex* m_pMutex;
};
int GetValue(const MyClass3& c)
{
    return c.GetValue();
}

Local Pointer to Member Does Not Compile

If local pointer is used, compiler will complain "error C2440: 'initializing': cannot convert from 'const std::mutex *' to 'std::mutex *'".

// cannot work.
class MyClass4
{
public:
    MyClass4(int value) : m_Value(value) {}

    int GetValue() const
    {
        std::mutex* pMutex = &m_Mutex; // compiler complain
        std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(*pMutex);
        return m_Value;
    }
private:
    int m_Value;
    std::mutex m_Mutex;
};
int GetValue(const MyClass4& c)
{
    return c.GetValue();
}

unique_ptr

Instead of raw pointer, using unique_ptr works as well.

class MyClass5
{
public:
    MyClass5(int value) : m_Value(value), m_pMutex(std::make_unique<std::mutex>()) {}

    int GetValue() const
    {
        std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(*m_pMutex);
        return m_Value;
    }
private:
    int m_Value;
    std::unique_ptr<std::mutex> m_pMutex;
};
int GetValue(const MyClass5& c)
{
    return c.GetValue();
}

The example code is hosted at Github.