Scribd
Upload
143 views2 pages

Learn C++ - References - Pointers Cheatsheet - Codecademy

This document provides an overview of references, pointers, and memory addresses in C++. References are aliases for other objects that allow anything done to the reference to also happen to the original object. Pass-by-reference allows functions to modify arguments and avoid copying variables. Const references can be used for functions where parameters won't change. Memory addresses specify locations in memory, accessed with &. Pointers store memory addresses and are created with *. The dereference operator * obtains the value pointed to by a pointer.

Uploaded by

Vatsal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
143 views2 pages

Learn C++ - References - Pointers Cheatsheet - Codecademy

This document provides an overview of references, pointers, and memory addresses in C++. References are aliases for other objects that allow anything done to the reference to also happen to the original object. Pass-by-reference allows functions to modify arguments and avoid copying variables. Const references can be used for functions where parameters won't change. Memory addresses specify locations in memory, accessed with &. Pointers store memory addresses and are created with *. The dereference operator * obtains the value pointed to by a pointer.

Uploaded by

Vatsal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Cheatsheets / Learn C++

References & Pointers


References
In C++, a reference variable is an alias for another object.
It is created using the & sign. Two things to note: int &sonny = songqiao;

1. Anything done to the reference also happens to


the original.

2. Aliases cannot be changed to alias something else.

Pass-By-Reference
In C++, pass-by-reference refers to passing parameters
to a function by using references. void swap_num(int &i, int &j) {
It allows the ability to:
int temp = i;
● Modify the value of the function arguments.
i = j;
● Avoid making copies of a variable/object for j = temp;
performance reasons.

int main() {

int a = 100;
int b = 200;

swap_num(a, b);

std::cout << "A is " << a << "\n";


std::cout << "B is " << b << "\n";

const Reference
In C++, pass-by-reference with const can be used
for a function where the parameter(s) won’t change int triple(int const &i) {
inside the function.
This saves the computational cost of making a copy of return i * 3;
the argument.
}

/
Memory Address
In C++, the memory address is the location in the
memory of an object. It can be accessed with the std::cout << &porcupine_count << "\n";
“address of” operator, & .
Given a variable porcupine_count , the memory
address can be retrieved by printing out
&porcupine_count . It will return something like:
0x7ffd7caa5b54 .

Pointers
In C++, a pointer variable stores the memory address of
something else. It is created using the * sign. int* pointer = &gum;

Dereference
In C++, a dereference reference operator, * , can be
used to obtain the value pointed to by a pointer variable. int gum = 3;

// * on left side is a pointer


int* pointer = &gum;

// * on right side is a dereference of


that pointer
int dereference = *pointer;

You might also like