Passing arguments by value

Pass by value

By default, arguments in C++ are passed by value. When arguments are passed by value, a copy of the argument is passed to the function.

Consider the following snippet:

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void foo(int y) {     using namespace std;     cout << "y = " << y << endl; }   int main() {     foo(5); // first call       int x = 6;     foo(x); // second call     foo(x+1); // third call       return 0; }

In the first call to foo(), the argument is the literal 5. When foo() is called, variable y is created, and the value of 5 is copied into y. Variable y is then destroyed when foo() ends.

In the second call to foo(), the argument is the variable x. x is evaluated to produce the value 6. When foo() is called for the second time, variable y is created again, and the value of 6 is copied into y. Variable y is then destroyed when foo() ends.

In the third call to foo(), the argument is the expression x+1. x+1 is evaluated to produce the value 7, which is passed to variable y. Variable y is once again destroyed when foo() ends.

Thus, this program prints:

y = 5
y = 6
y = 7

Because a copy of the argument is passed to the function, the original argument can not be modified by the function. This is shown in the following example:

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void foo(int y) {     using namespace std;     cout << "y = " << y << endl;       y = 6;       cout << "y = " << y << endl; } // y is destroyed here   int main() {     using namespace std;     int x = 5;     cout << "x = " << x << endl;       foo(x);       cout << "x = " << x << endl;     return 0; }

This snippet outputs:

x = 5
y = 5
y = 6
x = 5

At first, x is 5. When foo() is called, the value of x (5) is passed to variable y inside foo(). y is assigned the value of 6, and then destroyed. The value of x is unchanged, even though y was changed.

Advantages of passing by value:

• Arguments passed by value can be variables (eg. x), literals (eg. 6), or expressions (eg. x+1).
• Arguments are never changed by the function being called, which prevents side effects.

Disadvantages of passing by value:

• Copying large structs or classes can take a lot of time to copy, and this can cause a performance penalty, especially if the function is called many times.

In most cases, pass by value is the best way to pass arguments to functions — it is flexible and safe.