Efficiency of output parameter vs return value on the stack for stl data structures

Question

lets say I have the functions

std::Vector<Point> calculate() {
   std::Vector<Point> points; //do stuff with points
   return points;
}

and

void calculate(std::Vector<Point>& points) {
   //do stuff with points
}

So my question is specific to objects initialized on the stack, and are stl objects. Is there any difference in performance, and what is the popular method of doing it

regards

Answer 1

My humble opinion: return values create more problems than solve... they look simpler, they are more concise in the calling segment, but rvalue references would be avoided...

The shortcoming is that expressiveness will be reduced, but that is a small cost, since resources like memory allocation will move upstream.

C++ must and can be significantly simplified in terms of syntax and resource management.