Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- programming:cplusplus:start [2022/02/28 18:31]
dwheele [Pointers]
+++ programming:cplusplus:start [2022/02/28 18:43] (current)
dwheele [Reference]
@@ Line 68: / Line 68: @@
 ===== Reference =====
+Pointers and references are about the same thing. How we write them is different. References are syntax sugar on top of a pointer.
+References reference an existing variable.
+<code c++>
+int main()
+{
+   int a =5;
+   int& ref = a;// the & is part of the int defintion
+   // We have created an alias. It is not really a variable.
+   // We can use ref as though it is "a"
+   ref = 2;
+   std::cout(ref);
+}
+// Works, but this is clumsy
+void Increment (int* value)
+{
+   (*value)++;// Value at the pointer "value"
+}
+int main()
+{
+   // We want to pass the memory address.
+   int a = 5;
+   Increment(&a);
+   LOG(a);
+}
+</code>
+<code c++>
+// Use a reference instead of a pointer
+void Increment(int& value)
+{
+   value++;
+}
+int main()
+{
+   int a = 5;
+   Increment(a);
+   LOG(a)
+}
+</code>

Dan's Wiki