std::addressof

Defined in header `<memory>`
	(1)
template< class T > T* addressof(T& arg);			(since C++11) (until C++17)
template< class T > constexpr T* addressof(T& arg);			(since C++17)
template <class T> const T* addressof(const T&&) = delete;		(2)	(since C++17)

1) Obtains the actual address of the object or function arg, even in presence of overloaded operator&

2) Rvalue overload is deleted to prevent taking the address of const rvalues.

The expression std::addressof(E) is a constant subexpression, if E is an lvalue constant subexpression.

(since C++17)

Parameters

arg

-

lvalue object or function

Return value

Pointer to arg.

Exceptions

1)

noexcept specification:

noexcept

Possible implementation

template< class T >
T* addressof(T& arg) 
{
    return reinterpret_cast<T*>(
               &const_cast<char&>(
                  reinterpret_cast<const volatile char&>(arg)));
}

Note: the above implementation is oversimplified and is not constexpr (which requires compiler support).

Example

operator& may be overloaded for a pointer wrapper class to obtain a pointer to pointer:

Run this code

#include <iostream>
#include <memory>
 
template<class T>
struct Ptr {
    T* pad; // add pad to show difference between 'this' and 'data'
    T* data;
    Ptr(T* arg) : pad(nullptr), data(arg) 
    {
        std::cout << "Ctor this = " << this << std::endl;
    }
 
    ~Ptr() { delete data; }
    T** operator&() { return &data; }
};
 
template<class T>
void f(Ptr<T>* p) 
{
    std::cout << "Ptr   overload called with p = " << p << '\n';
}
 
void f(int** p) 
{
    std::cout << "int** overload called with p = " << p << '\n';
}
 
int main() 
{
    Ptr<int> p(new int(42));
    f(&p);                 // calls int** overload
    f(std::addressof(p));  // calls Ptr<int>* overload, (= this)
}

Possible output:

Ctor this = 0x7fff59ae6e88
int** overload called with p = 0x7fff59ae6e90
Ptr   overload called with p = 0x7fff59ae6e88

Language
Standard library headers
Concepts
Utilities library
Strings library
Containers library
Algorithms library
Iterators library
Numerics library
Input/output library
Localizations library
Regular expressions library (C++11)
Atomic operations library (C++11)
Thread support library (C++11)
Filesystem library (C++17)
Technical Specifications

Type support (basic types, RTTI, type traits)
Dynamic memory management
Error handling
Program utilities
Variadic functions
Date and time
Function objects
initializer_list (C++11)
bitset
hash (C++11)
Relational operators
rel_ops::operator!=rel_ops::operator>rel_ops::operator<=rel_ops::operator>=
`optional`, `any` and `variant` (C++17)
optional
any
variant
in_placein_place_typein_place_indexin_place_tin_place_type_tin_place_index_t
Pairs and tuples
pair
tuple (C++11)
apply (C++17)
make_from_tuple (C++17)
piecewise_construct_t (C++11)
piecewise_construct (C++11)
integer_sequence (C++14)
Swap, forward and move
swap
exchange (C++14)
forward (C++11)
move (C++11)
move_if_noexcept (C++11)
Elementary string conversions
to_chars (C++17)
from_chars (C++17)
chars_format (C++17)
Type operations
declval (C++11)
as_const (C++17)

allocator	the default allocator (class template)
pointer_to [static]	obtains a dereferenceable pointer to its argument (public static member function of `std::pointer_traits`)