References as Aliases within a Function

References can also be used as aliases for other variables within a function (although they typically are used with functions as shown in Fig. 6.19). For example, the code

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increments variable count by using its alias cRef. Reference variables must be initialized in their declarations and cannot be reassigned as aliases to other variables. Once a reference is declared as an alias for another variable, all operations supposedly performed on the alias (i.e., the reference) are actually performed on the original variable. The alias is simply another name for the original variable. Unless it’s a reference to a constant, a reference argument must be an lvalue (e.g., a variable name), not a constant or rvalue expression (e.g., the result of a calculation).