Why does a function declaration with a const argument allow calling of a function with a non-const argument?

Question

Take note of the following C++ code:

#include <iostream>
using std::cout;

int foo (const int);

int main ()
{
   cout << foo(3);
}

int foo (int a)
{
   a++;
   return a;
}

Notice that the prototype of foo() takes a const int and that the definition takes an int. This compile without any errors...

Why are there no compilation errors?

Answer 1

Because it doesn't matter to the caller of the foo function whether foo modifies its copy of the variable or not.

Specifically in the C++03 standard, the following 2 snippets explain exactly why:

C++03 Section: 13.2-1

Two function declarations of the same name refer to the same function if they are in the same scope and have equivalent parameter declarations (13.1).

C++03 Section: 13.1-3

Parameter declarations that differ only in the presence or absence of const and/or volatile are equivalent. Only the const and volatile type-specifiers at the outermost level of the parameter type specification are ignored in this fashion; const and volatile type-specifiers buried within a parameter type specification are significant and can be used to distinguish overloaded function declarations.

Answer 2

Top-level const (i.e., that applies to the value that's passed, not something to which it points or refers) affects only the implementation, not the interface, of a function. The compiler ignores it from the interface viewpoint (i.e., the calling side) and enforces it only on the implementation (i.e., code in the body of the function).