Does return statement copy values

Yes, in that case there will be a copy made. If you change the function declaration like this:

subline_t &subline(int x1, int x2, int id) {

then no copy will be made. However, in your specific case it would not be valid to return a reference to an object allocated on the stack. The problem is that the object would be destructed and invalidated before the caller had a chance to use it.

This is related to the common Return Value Optimization for C++ that can avoid doing an actual copy operation in the case you have described. The end result is (or should be) the same as if a copy were done, but you should be aware of the optimization. The presence of this optimization can, in some cases, change the observable behaviour of the program.

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