Why do reference variables need to be initialized at definition?

Question

I've tried searching around for the answer, but no luck so far. My question is - why must reference variables need to be initialized when they are defined? Is it a technical reason, or is it just something the standard doesn't allow?

Take this code for example:

int number = 42;
int& numberRef;
numberRef = number;

Above isn't allowed, but the code below is:

int number = 42;
int& numberRef = number;

Why can't the compiler treat an uninitialized reference variable like an uninitialized pointer? Is there something I'm missing here?

Answer 1

If a reference is uninitialized, there is no way to initialize it, since any attempt to assign to a reference always assigns to its referent.

int& numberRef;     // pretend this is allowed
numberRef = number; // copies number into some random memory location