Return reference to a vector member variable

Question

I have a vector as member in a class and I want to return a reference to it through a getVector() function, so as to be able to modify it later. Isn’t it better practice the fun

Answer 1

The function getVector can be declared as const. It returns a reference that can be modified, so while the actual function doesn't modify anything in the class, the caller will be able to modify internal data.

Declare it as:

std::vector& getVector();

If you want a function to return a vector that can't be modified, the use the const modifier on both the vector and the function:

const std::vector& getVector() const;