What is the difference between T& and T * const?

Question

T &ref = obj;
T *const ptr = &obj;

Is there any difference between these two declarations in C++ in terms of behavior?

I know that first one is called reference (whose members are accessed through dot (.) operator) and second one is called a pointer (whose members are access through arrow (->) operator).

But, if we consider their behavior, they both points to obj and will not be able to point to any object other than the one they are initialized with. We can modify the content of obj using both of them.

If both are same, which one is good for better coding style.

References are not pointers. This is a well discussed issue. — 101010, Oct 05 '15 at 14:10
This is indeed a pretty vacuous question lacking substance beyond that which is extremely well-covered elsewhere. Did you perform any research at all? — Lightness Races in Orbit, Oct 05 '15 at 14:10
Huh, I didn't VTC as duplicate — [silly banner](http://meta.stackexchange.com/q/172654/155739). — Lightness Races in Orbit, Oct 05 '15 at 14:12
@101010 - Can you be more specific on that? AFAIK, it reference is a way of hiding arrow (->) operator. — army007, Oct 05 '15 at 14:17
@LightnessRacesinOrbit - The question that is pointed out to be duplicated is on a broad topic, which will probably make any question on pointer duplicate of it. — army007, Oct 05 '15 at 14:36
@army007: Read the previous comments; I did not VTC as duplicate. — Lightness Races in Orbit, Oct 05 '15 at 14:40
@army007: Yes, I am aware of that. Click on the link in my comment where I complain about that broken behaviour of Stack Overflow's software. — Lightness Races in Orbit, Oct 05 '15 at 14:48

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 05 '15 at 14:11

0

Functionally, beyond syntactic differences as you've identified, not much.

Use whichever one you like.

answered Oct 05 '15 at 14:11

Lightness Races in Orbit

378,754
76
643
1,055

What is the difference between T& and T * const?

1 Answers1