How do I remove code duplication between similar const and non-const member functions?

Question

Let\'s say I have the following class X where I want to return access to an internal member:

class Z
{
    // details
};

class X
{
    std::vec         


        

Answer 1

I came up with a macro that generates pairs of const/non-const functions automatically.

class A
{
    int x;    
  public:
    MAYBE_CONST(
        CV int &GetX() CV {return x;}
        CV int &GetY() CV {return y;}
    )

    //   Equivalent to:
    // int &GetX() {return x;}
    // int &GetY() {return y;}
    // const int &GetX() const {return x;}
    // const int &GetY() const {return y;}
};

See the end of the answer for the implementation.

The argument of MAYBE_CONST is duplicated. In the first copy, CV is replaced with nothing; and in the second copy it's replaced with const.

There's no limit on how many times CV can appear in the macro argument.

There's a slight inconvenience though. If CV appears inside of parentheses, this pair of parentheses must be prefixed with CV_IN:

// Doesn't work
MAYBE_CONST( CV int &foo(CV int &); )

// Works, expands to
//         int &foo(      int &);
//   const int &foo(const int &);
MAYBE_CONST( CV int &foo CV_IN(CV int &); )

---

Implementation:

#define MAYBE_CONST(...) IMPL_CV_maybe_const( (IMPL_CV_null,__VA_ARGS__)() )
#define CV )(IMPL_CV_identity,
#define CV_IN(...) )(IMPL_CV_p_open,)(IMPL_CV_null,__VA_ARGS__)(IMPL_CV_p_close,)(IMPL_CV_null,

#define IMPL_CV_null(...)
#define IMPL_CV_identity(...) __VA_ARGS__
#define IMPL_CV_p_open(...) (
#define IMPL_CV_p_close(...) )

#define IMPL_CV_maybe_const(seq) IMPL_CV_a seq IMPL_CV_const_a seq

#define IMPL_CV_body(cv, m, ...) m(cv) __VA_ARGS__

#define IMPL_CV_a(...) __VA_OPT__(IMPL_CV_body(,__VA_ARGS__) IMPL_CV_b)
#define IMPL_CV_b(...) __VA_OPT__(IMPL_CV_body(,__VA_ARGS__) IMPL_CV_a)

#define IMPL_CV_const_a(...) __VA_OPT__(IMPL_CV_body(const,__VA_ARGS__) IMPL_CV_const_b)
#define IMPL_CV_const_b(...) __VA_OPT__(IMPL_CV_body(const,__VA_ARGS__) IMPL_CV_const_a)

---

Pre-C++20 implementation that doesn't support CV_IN:

#define MAYBE_CONST(...) IMPL_MC( ((__VA_ARGS__)) )
#define CV ))((

#define IMPL_MC(seq) \
    IMPL_MC_end(IMPL_MC_a seq) \
    IMPL_MC_end(IMPL_MC_const_0 seq)

#define IMPL_MC_identity(...) __VA_ARGS__
#define IMPL_MC_end(...) IMPL_MC_end_(__VA_ARGS__)
#define IMPL_MC_end_(...) __VA_ARGS__##_end

#define IMPL_MC_a(elem) IMPL_MC_identity elem IMPL_MC_b
#define IMPL_MC_b(elem) IMPL_MC_identity elem IMPL_MC_a
#define IMPL_MC_a_end
#define IMPL_MC_b_end

#define IMPL_MC_const_0(elem)       IMPL_MC_identity elem IMPL_MC_const_a
#define IMPL_MC_const_a(elem) const IMPL_MC_identity elem IMPL_MC_const_b
#define IMPL_MC_const_b(elem) const IMPL_MC_identity elem IMPL_MC_const_a
#define IMPL_MC_const_a_end
#define IMPL_MC_const_b_end