When to use references vs. pointers

Question

I understand the syntax and general semantics of pointers versus references, but how should I decide when it is more-or-less appropriate to use references or pointers in an

Answer 1

In my practice I personally settled down with one simple rule - Use references for primitives and values that are copyable/movable and pointers for objects with long life cycle.

For Node example I would definitely use

AddChild(Node* pNode);