c++ - Const correctness: const char const * const GetName const (//stuff);

Question

Labelled as homework because this was a question on a midterm I wrote that I don't understand the answer to. I was asked to explain the purpose of each const in the following statement:

const char const * const GetName() const { return m_name; };

So, what is the explanation for each of these consts?

Answer 1

Take them from the right. The one before the ; tells the client this is a design level const i.e. it does not alter the state of the object. (Think of this as a read-only method.)

Okay, now the return value:

const char const *const

This is a constant pointer to okay ... here we go boom! You have an extra const -- a syntax error. The following are equivalent: const T or T const. If you take out a const you get a constant pointer to a constant characters. Does that help?