Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!sun-barr!texsun!pollux!ti-csl!m2!neath
From: neath@solar-1.stars.flab.Fujitsu.JUNET
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Reference to Pointer
Message-ID: <NEATH.89Jun12170832@solar-1.stars.flab.Fujitsu.JUNET>
Date: 12 Jun 89 08:08:32 GMT
Sender: news@ti-csl.csc.ti.com
Distribution: comp.lang.c++
Organization: Texas Instruments Data Systems Group, Austin TX
Lines: 27

I am trying to understand the workings  of pointer vs. reference. Specifically,
the following piece of code declares a typedef for char*, then  proceeds to use
a reference to this typedef as a function argument type. This works fine and is
accepted by <<cfront 1.2.1 2/16/87>>:

        #include <stream.h>
        typedef char* charP;
        
        void bar (const charP& c) {
          cout << form ("%s\n", c);
        }
        
        void foo (void) {
          bar ("HELLO WORLD");
        }

Now, what does it really mean to have  a  reference to a pointer  to a thing in
memory? Do I really get two levels of  indirection here? If  this is allowed by
cfront, why can't I use a "char*&" instead of having to  declare the typedef of
charP? At the least, whatever the rule, it should be consistently followed.

Regards
Martin Neath <neath@dsg.ti.com>
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 DISCLAIMER: As always, the opinions expressed above are strictly my own
 and do not reflect those of my employer, Texas Instruments.
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