Avoiding const_cast when calling std::set::find

Question

Is there any good way to obviate the const_cast below, while keeping const correctness?

Without const_cast the code below doesn\'t compile.

Answer 1

I want to explain the underlying logic of why this is impossible.

Suppose set::find(const int*) would be legitimate. Then you could do the following:

set s;
const int* p_const;
// fill s and p
auto it = s.find(p_const);
int* p = *it;

Hey presto! You transformed const int* to int* without performing const_cast.