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In what circumstances should I prefer pass-by-reference? Pass-by-value?
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Passing by reference means the called functions' parameter will be the same as the callers' passed argument (not the value, but the identity - the variable itself). Pass by value means the called functions' parameter will be a copy of the callers' passed argument.
The main difference between pass by value and pass by reference is that, in a pass by value, the parameter value copies to another variable while, in a pass by reference, the actual parameter passes to the function. A computer program is a set of instructions that directs the CPU to perform a certain task.
2) For passing large sized arguments: If an argument is large, passing by reference (or pointer) is more efficient because only an address is really passed, not the entire object.
As a rule of thumb, passing by reference or pointer is typically faster than passing by value, if the amount of data passed by value is larger than the size of a pointer.
There are four main cases where you should use pass-by-reference over pass-by-value:
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