References in C++ are essentially pointers that are easier to use. They allow passing objects to functions by reference without needing to explicitly declare pointer parameters or dereference pointers within the function. References are initialized to refer to an object and cannot be reassigned to refer to a different object, making them behave similar to the object itself rather than a separate pointer variable.

1. References are "Nice" Pointers
void moveBall(ball &b)
{
b.x += 5;
}
int main()
{
ball b;
b.x = 10;
b.y = 20;
moveBall(b);
return 0;
}
struct ball
{
int x;
int y;
};
We previously saw pass-
by-reference like this…

2. References are "Nice" Pointers
void moveBall(ball *b)
{
(*b).x += 5;
}
int main()
{
ball b;
b.x = 10;
b.y = 20;
moveBall(&b);
return 0;
}
…but references are just
nice ways of using
pointers.
struct ball
{
int x;
int y;
};

3. References are "Nice" Pointers
void moveBall(ball *b)
{
b->x += 5;
}
int main()
{
ball b;
b.x = 10;
b.y = 20;
moveBall(&b);
return 0;
}
Instead of dereferencing
with *, then getting a
member attribute with .,
you can use ->
struct ball
{
int x;
int y;
};