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Re: taking address of temporary object

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On 2/10/2012 8:44 AM, V.Subramanian, India wrote:
> The following post is for learning purpose only.
> I am using g++ 3.4.3
> Consider the following program x.cpp
>
> #include<cstdlib>
> #include<iostream>
> #include<ostream>
>
> using namespace std;
>
> class Test {
> public:
> 	explicit Test(int arg = 0);
> 	Test&  operator+=(const Test&  rhs);
> 	int value() const;
> private:
> 	int x;
> };
>
> inline Test::Test(int arg) : x(arg)
> {
> }
>
> inline Test&  Test::operator+=(const Test&  rhs)
> {
> 	x += rhs.value();
> 	return *this;
> }
>
> inline int Test::value() const
> {
> 	return x;
> }
>
> inline const Test operator+(const Test&  lhs,
>                                          const Test&  rhs)
> {
> 	Test temp(lhs);
> 	return temp += rhs;
> }
>
> int main()
> {
> 	Test x(100);
> 	Test y(200);
> 	const Test* p =&(x + y);
>
> 	int a = 10;
> 	int b = 20;
> 	const int* i =&(a + b);
>
> 	return EXIT_SUCCESS;
> }
>
> When I compile this program x.cpp as
> g++ -std=c++98 -pedantic -Wall -Wextra x.cpp
> I get the following warning and error.
>
> x.cpp: In function `int main()':
> x.cpp:42: warning: taking address of temporary
> x.cpp:46: error: non-lvalue in unary `&'
> x.cpp:42: warning: unused variable 'p'
> x.cpp:46: warning: unused variable 'i'
>
> Question:
> In the above code, why does the compiler give warning for
> taking the address of temporary-class-object namely
> (x + y) whereas it generates error for taking the address of
> temporary-built-in-object namely (a + b) ? I expected error
> message for taking&(x + y) similar to that of&(a + b).
>
> Is ithis behaviour specific to g++3.4.3 ? Or the standard
> itself requires so ?
>
> Please explain.

I think the answer lies in the fact that a temporary object of a class 
type (especially one that has a c-tor) usually resides in memory anyway 
(and the compiler knows that), so taking its address is not a totally 
impossible operation, whereas a temporary of a built-in type can easily 
reside in the CPU register which does not have an address.

A class object that has any non-static member functions must have the 
unique "this" pointer when the control is inside that function, which 
means that even a temporary has to reside in memory.

V
-- 
I do not respond to top-posted replies, please don't ask

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Thread

taking address of temporary object "V.Subramanian, India" <subramanian100in@yahoo.com> - 2012-02-10 05:44 -0800
  Re: taking address of temporary object Victor Bazarov <v.bazarov@comcast.invalid> - 2012-02-10 08:53 -0500
  Re: taking address of temporary object "Alf P. Steinbach" <alf.p.steinbach+usenet@gmail.com> - 2012-02-10 15:08 +0100
    Re: taking address of temporary object Gareth Owen <gwowen@gmail.com> - 2012-02-10 17:51 +0000

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