Timeline for Return a unique_ptr by reference

8 events

when toggle format	what		by	license	comment
Apr 14, 2017 at 17:12	vote	accept	Behrooz Karjoo
Apr 13, 2017 at 20:29	answer	added	Xirema		timeline score: 7
Apr 13, 2017 at 20:28	answer	added	Vittorio Romeo		timeline score: 10
Apr 13, 2017 at 20:19	comment	added	AndyG		+1 for the raw pointer solution. I will also add that it's very common to return iterators to collections for find-like operations. You'd return the end iterator on not found. Perhaps with C++17 people will start moving towards a `std::optional` approach, though.
Apr 13, 2017 at 20:17	comment	added	463035818_is_not_an_ai		why dont you just return the iterator?
Apr 13, 2017 at 20:10	comment	added	Drew Dormann		NathanOliver beat me by a few seconds. To his point, do you have a reason why you want to return a const unique_ptr reference? You are not changing ownership, so you probably don't need to expose how these `order`s are memory-managed.
Apr 13, 2017 at 20:08	comment	added	NathanOliver		You could always return a regular, non owning raw pointer. That would allow you to replace `return null_unique;` with `return nullptr;`.
Apr 13, 2017 at 20:05	history	asked	Behrooz Karjoo	CC BY-SA 3.0