C++ singleton GetInstance() return

Question

When implementing a singleton in C++, is it better for GetInstance() to return a pointer to the singleton object, or a reference? Does it really matter?

Answer 1

It doesn't matter aside from returning a reference implicitly guarantees that the singleton exists. (If it doesn't, you should throw an exception.)

This also ignores the advice that singletons are evil as much as globals are evil since singletons are basically globals in design pattern clothing.