Why is a c++ reference considered safer than a pointer?

Question

When the c++ compiler generates very similar assembler code for a reference and pointer, why is using references preferred (and considered safer) compared to pointers?

Answer 1

Well the answer you point out answer that. From the "safer" point of view I think that basically it is hard to write code like :

int* i;
// ...
cout << *i << endl; // segfault

As a reference is always initialized, and

MyObject* po = new MyObject(foo);
// ...
delete po;
// ...
po->doSomething(); // segfault

But as said in the question you mention, that's not only because they are safer that references are used ...

my2c