Is there any advantage of using references instead of pointers in c++?

For example, I have two functions that do the same thing:

int func(int &a)
{
   return a+1;

}

and

int func2(int *a)
{
   return *a+1;
}

What is the advantage of using func over func2 when calling any one of these functions?

Answer

• A reference cannot be assigned null directly, but a pointer can be.


• A reference cannot be reassigned to point to something else, but a pointer can be.

Both these can be advantages or disadvantages, depending on the situation.