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C++ Standard 8.3.2/4 says:
There shall be no references to references, no arrays of references, and no pointers to references.
But I can't understand why this restriction is added to c++. In my opinion the code bellow can easily be compiled and work? What is the real cause of this restriction?
int a = 10, b = 20; int &c[] = {a, b}; 
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An array of references is illegal because a reference is not an object. According to the C++ standard, an object is a region of storage, and it is not specified if a reference needs storage (Standard §11.3. 2/4). Thus, sizeof does not return the size of a reference, but the size of the referred object.
The only reason for passing an array explicitly by reference is so that you can change the pointer to point to a different array. If a function only looks at the contents of an array, and does not change what is in the array, you usually indicates that by adding const to the parameter.
Arrays are used to store multiple values in a single variable, instead of declaring separate variables for each value. To create an array, define the data type (like int ) and specify the name of the array followed by square brackets [].
// values as they all refer to the same variable. 1) Once a reference is created, it cannot be later made to reference another object; it cannot be reset.
Because indexation into an array is actually defined in terms of an implicit conversion to a pointer, then pointer arithmetic. So to support this, you'd have to also support pointers to references, and define what pointer arithmetic means on them.
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