Use of the & operator in C++ function signatures

Question

I\'m currently reading through Accelerated C++ and I realized I don\'t really understand how & works in function signatures.

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Answer 1

You shouldn't know anything about pointers until you get to chapter 10 of Accelerated C++ !

A reference creates another name, an alias, for something that exists elsewhere. That's it. There are no hidden pointers or addresses involved. Don't look behind the curtain!

Think of a guy named Robert

guy   Robert;

Sometimes you may want to call him Bob

guy& Bob = Robert;

Now Bob and Robert both refer to the same guy. You don't get his address (or phone number), just another name for the same thing.

In your function

void DoSomething(string& str)
{
  string copy=str;
}

it works exactly the same, str is another name for some string that exists somewhere else.

Don't bother with how that happens, just think of a reference as a name for some object. The compiler has to figure out how to connect the names, you don't have to.