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

It's a reference which allows the function to modify the passed string, unlike a normal string parameter where modification would not affect the string passed to the function.

You will often see a parameter of type const string& which is done for performance purposes as a reference internally doesn't create a copy of the string.