Is there a way to return null instead of custom object (not pointer)?

Question

is there a way to do what I'm trying to do without using pointers or references?

Here's the code:

Node getSmallest() {

    if (openList.empty())
        return 0;         // syntax error

    // some other code
}

Answer 1

You can use boost::optional to return an optional value. Or wait for C++14 and use std::optional.