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Dr. Powell pretty much gave my answer (stated more eloquently ). It's something to look out for when branching wires... by-value data is now a copy, while by-reference still refers to the same thing. Be aware of that when you start mixing by-value and by-reference inside class member data.

It's the inconsistent state that is the problem, where the by-value bit is inconsistent after the by-ref bit is changed in parallel. That doesn't always happen; sometimes either the value or the reference bit never changes. But one needs to be aware of this issue.

Hello. I haven't gone through the links provided in the opening post. However, it appears that Darren's recommendations pertain to the concept of (class or object) immutability - the general idea being that, once an object is created, its identity must be unique in your application domain. Note, however, this does not mean all class data members are constant - just the crucial attributes that 'define' the object. For example, a human being continuously evolves since inception. However, certain traits remain immutable, depending on the domain of reference: Biologically - DNA; Government -