What are the differences between pointers and reference variables in C

1.	What are the differences between pointers and reference variables in C++?
Answer» In C++, a pointer is a variable that keeps track of the memory address of another variable. A reference is an alias for a variable that ALREADY exists. A reference to a variable that has been initialised cannot be MODIFIED to refer to another variable. As a result, a reference is analogous to a const pointer. Pointer Any time after a pointer is declared, it can be initialised to any VALUE. int x = 6;// some codeint PTR = &x; A reference is supposed to be initialized at its time of declaration. int x = 6;int &ref = x; It is possible to assign a pointer point to a NULL value. NULL references are not allowed. A must be used to dereference pointers. References can be referred to simply by their names. A pointer can be altered to point to any similar-type variable. For example: int x = 6;int *ptr;ptr = &x;int y = 7;ptr = &y; A reference to a variable OBJECT cannot be modified once it has been initialised to a variable.

What are the differences between pointers and reference variables in C++?

Answer»

In C++, a pointer is a variable that keeps track of the memory address of another variable.

A reference is an alias for a variable that ALREADY exists. A reference to a variable that has been initialised cannot be MODIFIED to refer to another variable. As a result, a reference is analogous to a const pointer.

Pointer

Any time after a pointer is declared, it can be initialised to any VALUE.

int x = 6;// some codeint *PTR = &x;

A reference is supposed to be initialized at its time of declaration.

int x = 6;int &ref = x;

It is possible to assign a pointer point to a NULL value. NULL references are not allowed.
A * must be used to dereference pointers. References can be referred to simply by their names.
A pointer can be altered to point to any similar-type variable. For example:

int x = 6;int *ptr;ptr = &x;int y = 7;ptr = &y;

A reference to a variable OBJECT cannot be modified once it has been initialised to a variable.

What are the differences between pointers and reference variables in C++?

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