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Exercise 2.3
Pointers in combination with references


In this exercise we will explore pointers and references relative to each other. Play and learn! We do this in context of a function that returns the maximum of two doubles. Here is the function with call-by-value parameters:

  double max(double a, double b){
    return a < b ? b : a;
  }

In all cases below, program the max function, call it, make make sure you get the expected result from the call.

  1. As a warm up: Make a version with call by const references instead of call by value parameters.
  2. Demonstrate that pointers to references do not exist.
  3. Make a version with references to pointers. Does that make sense to you?
  4. Next, make version with const references to pointers.
  5. Finally, a version with const references to pointers to double constants

Can you imagine other interesting variations?


Solution