Value category is not lifetime

Value category is not lifetime

C++值类别与生命周期完全没有关系

Here’s another slogan that needs more currency:

Value category is not lifetime.

What I mean by this mantra is probably best shown by example.

Two examples of a common C++ problem

Suppose we design a String class that looks like this:

class String {
    std::string s_;
public:
    explicit String(const char *s) : s_(s) {}
    operator std::string_view() const { return s_; }
};

And suppose we design a TokenIterator class that looks like this:

class TokenIterator {
    const char *s_;
public:
    explicit TokenIterator(const std::string& s) : s_(s.data()) {}
    auto& operator++() {
        // complicated logic to advance `s_` through the string
    }
};