On compilers that do not conform to Standard C++ rules of reference binding, operations on optional references might give adverse results: rather than binding a reference to a designated object they may create an unexpected temporary and bind to it. Compilers known to have these deficiencies include GCC versions 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5; QCC 4.4.2; MSVC versions 8.0, 9.0, 10.0, 11.0, 12.0. On these compilers prefer using direct-initialization and copy assignment of optional references to copy-initialization and assignment from `T&`:
const int i = 0;
optional<const int&> or1;
optional<const int&> or2 = i; // not portable
or1 = i; // not portable
optional<const int&> or3(i); // portable
or1 = optional<const int&>(i); // portable
In order to check if your compiler correctly implements reference binding use this test program.
#include <cassert>
const int global_i = 0;
struct TestingReferenceBinding
{
TestingReferenceBinding(const int& ii)
{
assert(&ii == &global_i);
}
void operator=(const int& ii)
{
assert(&ii == &global_i);
}
void operator=(int&&) // remove this if your compiler doesn't have rvalue refs