What does '&' mean in C++?

Question

What does \'&\' mean in C++?

As within the function

void Read_wav::read_wav(const string &filename)
{

}

And what is its equiv

Answer 1

In C, you would write it this way:

void read_wav(struct Read_wav* , const char * pSzFileName)
{

}

std::string is the C++ way of dealing with array of const char.

& is a C++ reference. It behaves just as if you were handling the pointer behind ( its is mainly a syntactic sugar, thought it prompts the contract that the pointer behind should not be null).