cpp/lang/references

[utterances-bot]

C++ References Introduction | hacking C++

C++ references for beginners - properties, usage, guidelines, pitfalls: declaration, properties, const references, usage as function parameters, dangling, binding rules, etc.

https://hackingcpp.com/cpp/lang/references.html

[jakr]

1. This chapter covers a lot of information, maybe the Binding Rules part could be separated / moved somewhere else?
2. At the beginning, it does not say a lot about why one uses references, it starts directly with the first definition. In contrast, the pointer chapter has a nice introduction
3. Since the chapters on references and pointers are not next to each other, it might be useful to link between them
4. In one of the chapters, it would be nice to give some guidance on when to use pointers vs references (for example: prefer references; use pointers when null is allowed, use unique_ptr to express ownership, shared_ptr to control lifetime)

[jakr]

Forget about 4., the pointer chapter already contains it.

[hackingcpp]

1. maybe, I have to think about it
2. I agree, a short motivation at the beginning would be useful.
3. definitely

[mg979]

This compiles just fine with g++ (Windows)

#include <iostream>

int main()
{
    int  i  = 2;
    int  k  = 3;
    int& ri = i;    // reference to i
    ri = k;         //  COMPILER ERROR: reference can't be redirected
    std::cout << i; // 3
    // int& r2;        //  COMPILER ERROR: reference must be initialized
    // double& r3 = i; //  COMPILER ERROR: types must agree
}

I'm referring to the box at the top of this page, that says that a reference can't be redirected (but here I'm just assigning k value and not redirecting to k address right?).

[hackingcpp]

@mg979: you're absolutely right - I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote this. One more reason I plan to make all code boxes runnable in Compiler Explorer. As of now, only the standard library algorithm examples are all executable in the browser.

[kooonnn]

String literals are lvalues, we can get address of them like &"Hello World!".

[JohannJo]

In paragraph "Usage/ Const reference parameters" a closing parenthesis is missing on this line: if (y.empty() return x;