Modify method parameter within method or return result

Question

What is the difference between

private void DoSomething(int value) {
    value++;
}

and

private int DoSomething(int value)          


        

Answer 1

With most programming languages, you would need to change up your void function by passing the parameter by reference. A function usually can't change the value of its parameters; instead, it creates a copy of the parameter and works with that instead.

In order to work with the actual variable, you have to change the function header to accept a reference to the variable, with a preceding ampersand (&) like this:

private void DoSomething(int &value)

Hope that helps!