Does returning a default constructed object prevent NRVO?

Supposed I have a function like:

using std::vector;

vector<int> build_vector(int n)
{
   if (some_condition(n)) return {};

   vector<int> out;

   for(int x : something())
   {
      out.push_back(x);
   }

   return out;
}

Does the return {} at the beginning of the function prevent NRVO? I'm curious, as it seems like this would be equivalent to the following:

using std::vector;

vector<int> nrvo_friendly_build_vector(int n)
{
   vector<int> out;

   if (some_condition(n)) return out;

   for(int x : something())
   {
      out.push_back(x);
   }

   return out;
}

But it wasn't clear to me whether the compiler is allowed to do NRVO in the first case.

As requested by the OP, here is an adapted version of my comment

I was actually wondering the same thing (especially since copy elision is not "required" by the standard), so I tested it quickly in an online compiler by replacing std::vector by a Widget struct:

struct Widget
{
    int val = 0;
    Widget()              { printf("default ctor\n"); }
    Widget(const Widget&) { printf("copy ctor\n"); }
    Widget(Widget&&)      { printf("move ctor\n"); }

    Widget& operator=(const Widget&) { printf("copy assign\n"); return *this; }
    Widget& operator=(Widget&&)      { printf("move assign\n"); return *this; }

    ~Widget() { printf("dtor\n"); }

    void method(int)
    {
        printf("method\n");
    }
};

V1 using build_vector(): http://coliru.stacked-crooked.com/a/5e55efe46bfe32f5

#include <cstdio>
#include <array>
#include <cstdlib>

using std::array;

struct Widget
{
    int val = 0;
    Widget()              { printf("default ctor\n"); }
    Widget(const Widget&) { printf("copy ctor\n"); }
    Widget(Widget&&)      { printf("move ctor\n"); }

    Widget& operator=(const Widget&) { printf("copy assign\n"); return *this; }
    Widget& operator=(Widget&&)      { printf("move assign\n"); return *this; }

    ~Widget() { printf("dtor\n"); }

    void method(int)
    {
        printf("method\n");
    }
};

bool some_condition(int x)
{
    return (x % 2) == 0;
}

array<int, 3> something()
{
    return {{1,2,3}};
}

Widget build_vector(int n)
{
   if (some_condition(n)) return {};

   Widget out;

   for(int x : something())
   {
      out.method(x);
   }

   return out;
}

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
    if (argc != 2)
    {
        return -1;
    }
    const int x = atoi(argv[1]);

    printf("call build_vector\n");
    Widget w = build_vector(x);
    printf("end of call\n");
    return w.val;
}

Output of V1

call build_vector
default ctor
method
method
method
move ctor
dtor
end of call
dtor

V2 using nrvo_friendly_build_vector(): http://coliru.stacked-crooked.com/a/51b036c66e993d62

#include <cstdio>
#include <array>
#include <cstdlib>

using std::array;

struct Widget
{
    int val = 0;
    Widget()              { printf("default ctor\n"); }
    Widget(const Widget&) { printf("copy ctor\n"); }
    Widget(Widget&&)      { printf("move ctor\n"); }

    Widget& operator=(const Widget&) { printf("copy assign\n"); return *this; }
    Widget& operator=(Widget&&)      { printf("move assign\n"); return *this; }

    ~Widget() { printf("dtor\n"); }

    void method(int)
    {
        printf("method\n");
    }
};

bool some_condition(int x)
{
    return (x % 2) == 0;
}

array<int, 3> something()
{
    return {{1,2,3}};
}

Widget nrvo_friendly_build_vector(int n)
{
   Widget out;

   if (some_condition(n)) return out;

   for(int x : something())
   {
      out.method(x);
   }

   return out;
}

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
    if (argc != 2)
    {
        return -1;
    }
    const int x = atoi(argv[1]);

    printf("call nrvo_friendly_build_vector\n");
    Widget w = nrvo_friendly_build_vector(x);
    printf("end of call\n");
    return w.val;
}

Output of V2

call nrvo_friendly_build_vector
default ctor
method
method
method
end of call
dtor

As you can see, in this particular case (no side effects from constructing the struct are visible by some_condition), V1 calls the move constructor if some_condition() is false (at least in clang and gcc, using -std=c++11 and -O2, in Coliru)

Furthermore, as you have noticed, the same behavior seems to happen at -O3 as well.

HTH

ps: When learning about copy elision, you might find Abseil's ToW #11 interesting ;)