An alias for a variable

Utilises the ampersand & symbol

Syntax:    int & myAlias = myVar ;  //now myAlias and myVar are effectively the same

Any changes to the reference are reflected in the original, and vice-versa.

References are similar to pointers, but do not work under the principles of 'address of' or dereferencing.

• alias for a variable
• when declaring must be initialised to a variable
• cannot have NULL references
• data type (primitive or abstract) must precede the ampersand &
  • dataType & alias

This example assigns two references and also shows references being passed into a function:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

void swap(int &x, int &y){
	x = x + y ;
	y = x - y ;
	x = x - y ;

	return ;
}

int main () {

	int a = 17 ;
	int b = 42 ;

	int & i = a ; //defining i as a reference to a
	int & j = b ; //defining j as a reference to b

	//now using i and j as aliases to a and b
	cout << "a before swap: " << i << endl;
	cout << "b before swap: " << j << endl;

	//calling the swap function using the aliases
	swap(i, j) ;

	//displaying the swap result using the original variables
	cout << "a after swap: " << a << endl;
	cout << "b after swap: " << b << endl;

	return 0;
}

Compile & Run:

*Note: Maybe slightly confusing with respect to the ampersand & symbol also being used as the 'address of' operator. The thing to remember with references is that they should always be initialised to an existing variable.