在 constness 和 volatility 上重载

如果可能，将指针参数传递给 T*参数比将其传递给 const T*参数更好。

struct Base {};
struct Derived : Base {};
void f(Base* pb);
void f(const Base* pb);
void f(const Derived* pd);
void f(bool b);

Base b;
f(&b); // f(Base*) is better than f(const Base*)
Derived d;
f(&d); // f(const Derived*) is better than f(Base*) though;
       // constness is only a "tie-breaker" rule

同样，如果可能的话，将参数传递给 T& 参数比将其传递给 const T& 参数更好，即使两者都具有完全匹配等级。

void f(int& r);
void f(const int& r);
int x;
f(x); // both overloads match exactly, but f(int&) is still better
const int y = 42;
f(y); // only f(const int&) is viable

此规则也适用于 const 限定的成员函数，其中允许对非 const 对象的可变访问和对 const 对象的不可变访问非常重要。

class IntVector {
  public:
    // ...
    int* data() { return m_data; }
    const int* data() const { return m_data; }
  private:
    // ...
    int* m_data;
};
IntVector v1;
int* data1 = v1.data();       // Vector::data() is better than Vector::data() const;
                              // data1 can be used to modify the vector's data
const IntVector v2;
const int* data2 = v2.data(); // only Vector::data() const is viable;
                              // data2 can't be used to modify the vector's data

以相同的方式，易失性过载将不如非易失性过载优选。

class AtomicInt {
  public:
    // ...
    int load();
    int load() volatile;
  private:
    // ...
};
AtomicInt a1;
a1.load(); // non-volatile overload preferred; no side effect
volatile AtomicInt a2;
a2.load(); // only volatile overload is viable; side effect
static_cast<volatile AtomicInt&>(a1).load(); // force volatile semantics for a1