Object oriented design suggestion

Question

Here is my code:

class Soldier {
public:
   Soldier(const string &name, const Gun &gun);
   string getName();
private:
   Gun gun;
   string name;
};

cl         


        

Answer 1

Provide a "getGun()" or simply "gun()".

Imagine one day you may need to make that method more complex:

Gun* getGun() {
  if (!out_of_bullets_) {
    return &gun_;
  } else {
    PullPieceFromAnkle();
    return &secret_gun_;
  }
}

Also, you may want to provide a const accessor so people can use a const gun on a const soldier:

const Gun &getGun() const { return gun_; }