Pass by Reference C++ style 


In C++ we make use of the reference parameter. All you need to do is put & before your function's parameter. Example : void square (& x)
Whatever operation is done on x will actually affect the original calling argument. Basically x can be said to be an implicit pointer. The difference is that you needn't use *x to operate on the parameter. I'll show you with an example (the same square function example).


// Pass by reference C++ style example

void square ( int &x )                        // x becomes a reference parameter
{
x = x * x;                                          
// no need to say *x = (*x) * (*x); as we did in the last section 
}
int main ( )
{
int a =10;
int answer;
square(a);                                           
// No need to say &a as we did in the previous section
cout<<" Value of a is "<<a;                  
// Value of a is 100 
return 0;
}

The line x = x * x ; actually operates on a and not on a copy of a.


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