By Value and By Reference

Zomg, a project fork lol.

Here's a question: what's the difference between these:

Code:

void a(std::string x) {}

and

Code:

void a(std::string& x) {}

?

Or do these apply only when I have const before ?

Passing by value means a copy is made. Passing by reference does not involve copying. You could read this FAQ on references.

another thing is that the second version is able to change the string x references

Originally Posted by pheres

another thing is that the second version is able to change the string x references

Which means that if the purpose of using the reference is only to avoid the copying overhead and not to change the object it refers to, a const reference should be used.