In the binary heap documentation, I read that `BinaryHeap.front()` "Returns a copy of the front of the heap". [1]
Is there no function to access the front of the heap without a copy?  (micro-optimization)

Thanks,
  Johan

[1] https://dlang.org/phobos/std_container_binaryheap.html#.BinaryHeap.front

On Tuesday, 13 September 2016 at 08:19:04 UTC, Johan Engelen wrote:
> In the binary heap documentation, I read that `BinaryHeap.front()` "Returns a copy of the front of the heap". [1]
> Is there no function to access the front of the heap without a copy?  (micro-optimization)
>
> Thanks,
>   Johan
>
> [1] https://dlang.org/phobos/std_container_binaryheap.html#.BinaryHeap.front

What does
foreach(ref e; bh)
{
     //...
}
do?

On Tuesday, 13 September 2016 at 08:55:15 UTC, Nicholas Wilson wrote:
> On Tuesday, 13 September 2016 at 08:19:04 UTC, Johan Engelen wrote:
>> In the binary heap documentation, I read that `BinaryHeap.front()` "Returns a copy of the front of the heap". [1]
>> Is there no function to access the front of the heap without a copy?  (micro-optimization)
>>
>> Thanks,
>>   Johan
>>
>> [1] https://dlang.org/phobos/std_container_binaryheap.html#.BinaryHeap.front
>
> What does
> foreach(ref e; bh)
> {
>      //...
> }
> do?

It copies the front of the heap on every iteration.

On Tuesday, 13 September 2016 at 08:19:04 UTC, Johan Engelen wrote:
> In the binary heap documentation, I read that `BinaryHeap.front()` "Returns a copy of the front of the heap". [1]
> Is there no function to access the front of the heap without a copy?  (micro-optimization)

Answering myself here: the binary heap element type should be cheap to copy, because it is going to be copied around a lot (for the common implementation on top of an array).