What is a reference variable in C++?

Question

What would be a brief definition of a reference variable in C++?

Answer 1

A reference variable provides an alias (alternative name) for a previously defined variable. For example:

float total=100;
float &sum = total;

It means both total and sum are the same variables.

cout<< total;
cout << sum;

Both are going to give the same value, 100. Here the & operator is not the address operator; float & means a reference to float.