Isn't “const” redundant when passing by value? [duplicate]

Answer 1

The const qualifier prevents code inside the function from modifying the parameter itself. When a function is larger than trivial size, such an assurance helps you to quickly read and understand a function. If you know that the value of side won't change, then you don't have to worry about keeping track of its value over time as you read. Under some circumstances, this might even help the compiler generate better code.

A non-trivial number of people do this as a matter of course, considering it generally good style.

Answer 2

You can do something like this:

int f(int x)
{
   x = 3; //with "const int x" it would be forbidden

   // now x doesn't have initial value
   // which can be misleading in big functions

}