call-by-reference
<programming> An argument passing convention where the address of an
argument variable is passed to a function or procedure, as opposed to passing
the value of the argument expression. Execution of the function or procedure may
have side-effects on the actual argument as seen by the caller. The C language's
"&" (address of) and "*" (dereference) operators allow the programmer to code
explicit call-by-reference. Other languages provide special syntax to declare
reference arguments (e.g. ALGOL 60).
See also call-by-name, call-by-value, call-by-value-result.
(2006-05-27)
Nearby terms:
callback « call-by-name « call-by-need «
call-by-reference » call-by-value » call-by-value-result
» call/cc
