What is the difference between Pointer and a Reference?
When you would use them?
Answers were Sorted based on User's Feedback
Answer / srihariraju
A reference just renames a memory location for the
reader/programmer. Its more like renaming a constant with
#define. The reference does not really 'contain' the
address, instead the comiler *could* just substitute the
address for the reference at the assembly code level.
A pointer is a variable (it 'must' have a memory location
of its own (barring odd compiler tricks)) that *can* be
used like a reference or it can point to nothing (NULL) (a
reference cannot do that) and a pointer can get new memory
from the os (new command) while a reference must 'point' to
existing memory.
Is This Answer Correct ? | 14 Yes | 0 No |
Answer / man
Reference is alias of a variable i.e. a constant pointer
which reference to a variable and can not be NULL.
You can not can get the address of ref. They are used as a
variable.
Pointers are variale that hold address of variable and can
be NULL. And can point to any number of variable.
Is This Answer Correct ? | 3 Yes | 0 No |
Answer / vinay bondade
A Pointer is not a condt pointer unless you define it in
that way,but a referrence on the contrary is a const
pointer by default and adding to this implementation it is
deferrenced automatically.
Is This Answer Correct ? | 1 Yes | 3 No |
Answer / nav
pointer are variable and no need to be initilise,but
refrence is the rename of variable and must be
initilise.pointer also assign null value but reference not
assign null value.
Is This Answer Correct ? | 1 Yes | 3 No |
What do you mean by late binding?
Define pre-condition and post-condition to a member function in c++?
How much is size of struct having 1 char & 1 integer?
Declare a class vehicle and make it an abstract data type.
What is the difference between Class and Structure?
40 Answers HP, IBM, Samsung, TCS,
Implement strncpy
In c++, what is the difference between method overloading and method overriding?
Explain function overloading
Why seem interrupt handlers as member functions to be impossible?
Can we specify variable field width in a scanf() format string? If possible how?
What is polymorphism in c++? Explain with an example?
How is new() different from malloc()?