Thread: const at the end of a sub routine?

Code:

/**
 * Returns the name of the armor
 */
const string &Armor::getName() const {
    return name;
}

What does the const that's bolded mean? Would it be bad if I decided to delete that part of the code? YES, because the const object versions of the class will only be able to call that function, only if the compiler KNOWS that that function will not be editing its member variables. Saying 'const' promises to everyone that that function can be called by a const class object...knowing its vars will not be hurt during the process of the function being called.