c++c++11referenceranged-loops

const reference in range-based-for-loop not working


I thought that you could use a const reference in ranged-based-for-loops in C++11, But when I compile this code using g++:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
#include <unordered_map>

int main() {
    std::vector<std::unordered_map<std::string, int> > coordinates {
        {{"x", 50}, {"y", 50}},
        {{"x", 25}, {"y", 75}},
        {{"x", 326}, {"y", 412}},
    };
    for(const auto& i : coordinates) {
        std::cout << "{\"x\" : " << i["x"] << ", \"y\" : " << i["y"] << "}\n";
    }
}

I get this error:

const_error.cc:13:38: error: no viable overloaded operator[] for type 'const
      std::__1::unordered_map<std::__1::basic_string<char>, int,
      std::__1::hash<std::__1::basic_string<char> >,
      std::__1::equal_to<std::__1::basic_string<char> >,
      std::__1::allocator<std::__1::pair<const std::__1::basic_string<char>,
      int> > >'
        std::cout << "{\"x\" : " << i["x"] << ", \"y\" : " << i["y"] << "}\n";
                                    ~^~~~
/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/../include/c++/v1/unordered_map:1131:18: note: 
      candidate function not viable: 'this' argument has type 'const
      std::__1::unordered_map<std::__1::basic_string<char>, int,
      std::__1::hash<std::__1::basic_string<char> >,
      std::__1::equal_to<std::__1::basic_string<char> >,
      std::__1::allocator<std::__1::pair<const std::__1::basic_string<char>,
      int> > >', but method is not marked const
    mapped_type& operator[](const key_type& __k);
                 ^
/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/../include/c++/v1/unordered_map:1133:18: note: 
      candidate function not viable: 'this' argument has type 'const
      std::__1::unordered_map<std::__1::basic_string<char>, int,
      std::__1::hash<std::__1::basic_string<char> >,
      std::__1::equal_to<std::__1::basic_string<char> >,
      std::__1::allocator<std::__1::pair<const std::__1::basic_string<char>,
      int> > >', but method is not marked const
    mapped_type& operator[](key_type&& __k);
                 ^
const_error.cc:13:64: error: no viable overloaded operator[] for type 'const
      std::__1::unordered_map<std::__1::basic_string<char>, int,
      std::__1::hash<std::__1::basic_string<char> >,
      std::__1::equal_to<std::__1::basic_string<char> >,
      std::__1::allocator<std::__1::pair<const std::__1::basic_string<char>,
      int> > >'
        std::cout << "{\"x\" : " << i["x"] << ", \"y\" : " << i["y"] << "}\n";
                                                              ~^~~~
/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/../include/c++/v1/unordered_map:1131:18: note: 
      candidate function not viable: 'this' argument has type 'const
      std::__1::unordered_map<std::__1::basic_string<char>, int,
      std::__1::hash<std::__1::basic_string<char> >,
      std::__1::equal_to<std::__1::basic_string<char> >,
      std::__1::allocator<std::__1::pair<const std::__1::basic_string<char>,
      int> > >', but method is not marked const
    mapped_type& operator[](const key_type& __k);
                 ^
/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/../include/c++/v1/unordered_map:1133:18: note: 
      candidate function not viable: 'this' argument has type 'const
      std::__1::unordered_map<std::__1::basic_string<char>, int,
      std::__1::hash<std::__1::basic_string<char> >,
      std::__1::equal_to<std::__1::basic_string<char> >,
      std::__1::allocator<std::__1::pair<const std::__1::basic_string<char>,
      int> > >', but method is not marked const
    mapped_type& operator[](key_type&& __k);
                 ^

But when I remove the const from the range-based for loop, It works just fine. Why won't my code compile fine with the const reference?


Solution

  • operator[] isn't const. If the key doesn't, exist it adds a value object to that key.

    Use unordered_map::at instead.