const T*& and const T* do not produce ambiguity on function overload

Question

• Why the following sample code do not produce ambiguity
• Is there any way to call the second version? (If this is not a bug)

---

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

void foo(const int*){cout << "no ref";}
void foo(const int*&){cout << "on ref";}

int main()
{
   int* i=nullptr;
   foo(i);
}

---

EDIT:

This

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

void foo(const int){cout << "no ref";}
void foo(const int&){cout << "on ref";}

int main()
{
   int i=0;
   foo(i);
}

Do produce ambiguity.

---

By the way, remove the const produce ambiguity.

compiler: g++5.3.0 with flag --std=c++14

Answer 1

• Why the following sample code do not produce ambiguity

This is not a bug. The parameter's type is const int*&, it's a reference to non-const, which can't be bound to object with different type (int*). (An implicit convertion is needed, and the produced temporary can't be bound to reference to non-const.)

If you change the parameter's type to reference to const:

void foo(const int* const&)

Or change the argument's type to const int*:

const int* i=nullptr;
foo(i);

Both will trigger a compile error for ambiguous calling.

• Is there any way to call the second version? (If this is not a bug)

You can do it through a function pointer, explicitly specifying which one you want to pick up:

const int* i=nullptr;
static_cast<void(*)(const int*&)>(&foo)(i);