Is there anything wrong with using const_cast in situations like this?
class List
{
public:
const List * head () const
{
// seek to the head of the list
}
List * head ()
{
return const_cast <List *> (((const List *)this) -> head ());
}
};
It seems clear to me that, assuming there are no strange tricks in the const version of the function, it should always be safe to defer to it in the non-const version (but not vice-versa of course).
Are there any nasty surprises in the language that would ever make this a bad idea?
