Scribd
Upload
25 views1 page

2 - Understanding Reference Variables

A reference in programming is an alias for an existing variable of the same data type, requiring no additional memory allocation. It is declared using a specific syntax that includes the data type, an ampersand, and the reference variable name assigned to a previously defined variable. The example provided illustrates how changes to the reference variable affect the original variable, as both point to the same memory location.

Uploaded by

Sarat Chandra
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
25 views1 page

2 - Understanding Reference Variables

A reference in programming is an alias for an existing variable of the same data type, requiring no additional memory allocation. It is declared using a specific syntax that includes the data type, an ampersand, and the reference variable name assigned to a previously defined variable. The example provided illustrates how changes to the reference variable affect the original variable, as both point to the same memory location.

Uploaded by

Sarat Chandra
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

A reference is an alternative name for an object.

A reference variable provides an alias name for a previously defined variable of


the same data type. No extra memory is allocated to the reference variable.

A reference declaration consists of a data_type, an ampersand (&), a reference


variable name equated to a variable name which is previously defined.

The general form of declaring a reference variable is:

data_type &ref_var = variable_name;

Where data_type is any valid C++ data type, ref_var is the name of the reference
variable that will point to variable denoted by variable_name.

Let us consider an example:


int total;
int &sum = total;
sum = 100;
cout << total; // It prints 100

In the above code both variables total and sum refer to the same data object in the
memory, thus it prints the same value.

You might also like