References

References are declared using the declarator syntax:

Syntax

& cv-qualifier-list_opt dname

A reference holds the address of an object but behaves syntactically like an object. A reference declaration consists of an (optional) list of specifiers followed by a reference declarator.

Syntax

decl-specifiers & cv-qualifier-list_opt dname ;

Consider the user-defined type Date:

struct Date
{
    short DayOfWeek;
    short Month;
    short Day;
    short Year;
};

The following statements declare an object of type Date and a reference to that object:

Date  Today;             // Declare the object.
Date& TodayRef = Today;  // Declare the reference.

The name of the object, Today, and the reference to the object, TodayRef, can be used identically in programs:

Today.DayOfWeek = 3;   // Tuesday
TodayRef.Month  = 7;   // July