Scribd
Upload
163 views2 pages

C++ References Vs Pointers

C++ references allow an alias to be created for an existing variable, so that both the variable name and the reference name can be used to refer to the same variable. References must be initialized when created and cannot refer to a different variable afterwards. References are commonly used for function arguments and return values.

Uploaded by

Sourav Roy
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
163 views2 pages

C++ References Vs Pointers

C++ references allow an alias to be created for an existing variable, so that both the variable name and the reference name can be used to refer to the same variable. References must be initialized when created and cannot refer to a different variable afterwards. References are commonly used for function arguments and return values.

Uploaded by

Sourav Roy
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

C++ REFERENCES

[Link] rialspo [Link] m/cplusplus/cpp_re fe re nce [Link]


Co pyrig ht tuto rials po [Link] m

A reference variable is an alias, that is, another name for an already existing variable. Once a reference is initialized with a variable, either the variable name or the reference name may be used to refer to the variable.

C++ References vs Pointers:


References are often confused with pointers but three major differences between references and pointers are: You cannot have NULL references. You must always be able to assume that a reference is connected to a leg itimate piece of storag e. Once a reference is initialized to an object, it cannot be chang ed to refer to another object. Pointers can be pointed to another object at any time. A reference must be initialized when it is created. Pointers can be initialized at any time.

Creating References in C++:


T hink of a variable name as a label attached to the variable's location in memory. You can then think of a reference as a second label attached to that memory location. T herefore, you can access the contents of the variable throug h either the orig inal variable name or the reference. For example, suppose we have the following example:
int i = 17;

We can declare reference variables for i as follows.


int& r = i;

Read the & in these declarations as referenc e . T hus, read the first declaration as "r is an integ er reference initialized to i" and read the second declaration as "s is a double reference initialized to d.". Following example makes use of references on int and double:
#include <iostream> using namespace std; int main () { // declare simple variables int i; double d; // declare reference variables int& r = i; double& s = d; i = 5; cout << "Value of i : " << i << endl; cout << "Value of i reference : " << r d = 11.7; cout << "Value of d : " << d << endl; cout << "Value of d reference : " << s return 0; }

<< endl;

<< endl;

When the above code is compiled tog ether and executed, it produces the following result:
Value of i : 5

Value of i reference : 5 Value of d : 11.7 Value of d reference : 11.7

References are usually used for function arg ument lists and function return values. So following are two important subjects related to C++ references which should be clear to a C++ prog rammer:

Conc ept References as parameters Reference as return value

Desc ription C++ supports passing references as function parameter more safely than parameters. You can return reference from a C++ function like a any other data type can be returned.

You might also like