Passing a modifiable parameter to c++ function

Question

Provided, I want to pass a modifiable parameter to a function, what should I choose: to pass it by pointer or to pass it by reference?

1. bool GetFoo ( Foo& w

Answer 1

These days I use const references for input parameters and pointers for out parameters. FWIIW, Google C++ Style Guide recommends the same approach (not that I always agree with their style guide - for instance they don't use exceptions, which usually does not make much sense)