I think the best way to describe the problem is giving a simple piece of code:
int t1; int t2; int * a = &t1; int const * const & b = a; a = &t2; printf ("test 2: %x %x\n", a, b); if (a != b) printf ("UPS!!!\n"); My gcc -v outputs: Using built-in specs. Target: i486-linux-gnu Configured with: ../src/configure -v --enable-languages=c,c++,java,f95,objc,ada,treelang --prefix=/usr --enable-shared --with-system-zlib --libexecdir=/usr/lib --without-included-gettext --enable-threads=posix --enable-nls --program-suffix=-4.0 --enable-__cxa_atexit --enable-clocale=gnu --enable-libstdcxx-debug --enable-java-awt=gtk-default --enable-gtk-cairo --with-java-home=/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.4.2-gcj-4.0-1.4.2.0/jre --enable-mpfr --disable-werror --enable-checking=release i486-linux-gnu Thread model: posix gcc version 4.0.3 20051201 (prerelease) (Debian 4.0.2-5) -- Summary: References to const pointers to const objects don't work as expected. Product: gcc Version: 4.0.3 Status: UNCONFIRMED Severity: major Priority: P3 Component: c++ AssignedTo: unassigned at gcc dot gnu dot org ReportedBy: ciprian dot craciun at gmail dot com GCC build triplet: 4.0.3 GCC target triplet: i486-linux-gnu http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=26011