[ ...] to describe null references
There are no null references. Not in C, and not in C++.
There are no references in C. Period.
There are references in C++, but they cannot be null. As per the C++ Standard.
// nulref.cpp
int main()
{
int& r = nullptr;
return 0;
}
>> g++ -g -O2 -std=c++17 -c nulref.cpp
nulref.cpp: In function ‘int main()’:
nulref.cpp:3:12: error: invalid initialization of non-const reference of type ‘int&’ from an rvalue of type ‘std::nullptr_t’
3 | int& r = nullptr;
Preempting:
You can change the declaration
int& r = nullptr;
to
const int& r = nullptr;
all you want. Still the same. Null references are not allowed, and do not exist in C++.
You can have null pointers. A pointer is not a reference, and a reference is not a pointer.
But you're an expert.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
