THINK++ — Engineering Visualized

Alias Binding

Reference Variables

A reference variable is just another name for an already existing variable. Any operation performed on the reference is actually performed on the original variable.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Must be initialized when declared
Cannot be null
Cannot be changed to refer to another variable later
Shares the same memory address as the original

Memory Address Test

int a = 100;
int &b = a;

cout << &a << endl; // 0x7ffd...
cout << &b << endl; // 0x7ffd... (SAME!)

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