How can a pointer point to a reference variable?

Question

I am working with pointers and reference variable in C++.

int i=43;
int &refi=i;

What I know is the variable refi is bound to variable i. However it does not have its own memory. It is just a another name to the variable i. Then how can a pointer point to such unstored variable.

#include<iostream>

int main(){
  int i=43;
  int &refi=i;
  int *p=&refi;
  std::cout<<p;
  return 0;
  }

However I am not getting any error for the above code. Instead I am getting address of it.Am I wrong with the concept of reference variable here?If yes how?

The output is

0x61ff04

If you want to see the value of i (43), you must do std::cout << *p — Nick, Oct 16 '20 at 13:31
You have two **names** for the same **object**. The pointer points to the object, not to a particular name. Some pointers even point to objects without a name `int* p = new int(42);`. — MSalters, Oct 16 '20 at 13:59

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 16 '20 at 13:29

1

The reference has the same address in memory as the variable it's referencing. That essentially makes it an alias. Thus, when you take the address of a reference, you get the address of the original variable.

answered Oct 16 '20 at 13:29

Aplet123

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How can a pointer point to a reference variable?

1 Answers1