Do not return const values

Returning a const value does not make sense, the client is able to copy the value into a non-const object anyway. It also disables move semantics, which is a constraint that has no benefits.

const Widget getWidget() { /* ... */ }
// ...
auto widget = getWidget() // Creates a mutable copy
widget.change(); // Able to change

Resources

• F.49: Don’t return const T
• Don’t Const All The Things - Return Types: Never Const