patterncppCritical
Are there benefits of passing by pointer over passing by reference in C++?
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Problem
What are the benefits of passing by pointer over passing by reference in C++?
Lately, I have seen a number of examples that chose passing function arguments by pointers instead of passing by reference. Are there benefits to doing this?
Example:
with a call of
vs.
with a call of
Lately, I have seen a number of examples that chose passing function arguments by pointers instead of passing by reference. Are there benefits to doing this?
Example:
func(SPRITE *x);with a call of
func(&mySprite);vs.
func(SPRITE &x);with a call of
func(mySprite);Solution
A pointer can receive a NULL parameter, a reference parameter can not. If there's ever a chance that you could want to pass "no object", then use a pointer instead of a reference.
Also, passing by pointer allows you to explicitly see at the call site whether the object is passed by value or by reference:
Also, passing by pointer allows you to explicitly see at the call site whether the object is passed by value or by reference:
// Is mySprite passed by value or by reference? You can't tell
// without looking at the definition of func()
func(mySprite);
// func2 passes "by pointer" - no need to look up function definition
func2(&mySprite);Code Snippets
// Is mySprite passed by value or by reference? You can't tell
// without looking at the definition of func()
func(mySprite);
// func2 passes "by pointer" - no need to look up function definition
func2(&mySprite);Context
Stack Overflow Q#334856, score: 258
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