On 12/21/22 16:43, thebluepandabear wrote:
> Say you have the following function that takes in a `ref` parameter:
>
> ```D
> void modify(ref int num) {
> num += 5;
> }
> ```
>
> Does the compiler turn that into the code below?
>
> ```D
> void modify(int* num) {
> num += 5;
Rather:
*num += 5;
> }
> ```
>
> I was just wondering whether or not this is the case because I don't
> think this was touched in the book about D I am reading.
Yes, references are realized by pointers by CPUs; so that's how the code
is compiled as well.
Pointers are considered to be one of the most difficult concepts for
beginners (who the book was supposed to target). That's why I tried to
hold it off as much as possible. I think once the concept of a reference
is understood, pointers should be easy to understand.
That's why I say "Behind the scenes, D's higher-level concepts (class
variables, slices, associative arrays, etc.) are all implemented by
pointers." only later in the book on the pointers page:
http://ddili.org/ders/d.en/pointers.html
Ali
