Reference as class member initialization

Question

I want to initialize a property of a class that holds a reference to another class by passing such a reference as a parameter to the constructor. However I receive an error:

Answer 1

You are attempting to assign to bank, not initialize it:

TaxSquare::TaxSquare(int anID, int amount, Bank& theBank) : Square(anID)
{
    // These are assignments
    taxAmount = amount;
    bank = theBank;
}

bank is a reference, and therefore it must be initialized. You do so by putting it in the initializer list:

TaxSquare::TaxSquare(int anID, int amount, Bank& theBank)
: Square(anID), taxAmount(amount), bank(theBank)
{}