C++ Primer, Fifth Edition

const_cast and Overloading

In § 4.11.3 (p. 163) we noted that const_casts are most useful in the context of overloaded functions. As one example, recall our shorterString function from § 6.3.2 (p. 224):

// return a reference to the shorter of two stringsconst string &shorterString(const string &s1, const string &s2){    return s1.size() <= s2.size() ? s1 : s2;}

Advice: When Not to Overload a Function Name

Although overloading lets us avoid having to invent (and remember) names for common operations, we should only overload operations that actually do similar things. There are some cases where providing different function names adds information that makes the program easier to understand. Consider a set of functions that move the cursor on a ...