What is the name of the workaround for passing a value instead of a reference in C/C++?

Passing by value using references to constant objects.

void process_value(const MyObject& obj) {
    // Working with obj as if it were passed by value
    // (changes are impossible due to const),
    // but avoiding copying a large object.
    // This function CANNOT modify the state of the object referenced by obj.
}

// Example usage:
MyObject large_object;
process_value(large_object); // large_object is not copied

Advantages over passing by value:

• No costly copying of large objects, which improves performance.
• Preserves the semantics of passing by value in terms of immutability within the function.

Disadvantages compared to passing by value:

• Requires special syntax const & in the function signature.
• If the object is very small (e.g., a primitive type like int), passing by value may be faster due to potential overhead of dereferencing the reference.