Inconsistent use of type alias.

[DodoMomo]

Inside basic_json the alias reference and const_reference are used in inconsistently, for example the method iteration_proxy uses const_reference as a parameter type, while push_back uses const basic_json&.
Which one should be used? I think the non-alias are better and i would like make a PR if you agree.

Sorry about my horrible english.

[nlohmann]

That is indeed inconsistent. Thanks for reporting. A pull request would be more than welcome!

[garethsb]

Note that e.g. std::vector defines reference but uses const value_type& in push_back. I've always assumed the rationale was a reference to a stored value vs an input arg.

[nlohmann]

I just had a look at the source of <vector>, and it seems they use reference and const_reference internally:

const_reference
operator[](size_type __n) const
{ return *(this->_M_impl._M_start + __n); }

I also tried to do this in basic_json, and I understood this issue to have found spots where I used const basic_json& instead of const_reference somewhere. Looking at #1523, it seems that @DodoMomo wants to go the other way and replace all reference´/const_reference`. I am not sure that this is a good idea.

[DodoMomo]

In my opinion it will make the code much more clear, unlike vector, basic_json is recursive container so the value_type is really confusing.

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.