Question

I have the following code:

class SomeClass {};

class SomeOtherClass {
    SomeClass& someObj;
public:
    SomeOtherClass() {someObj = SomeClass();}
};

And I get an error on the constructor for SomeOtherClass saying Constructor for 'SomeOtherClass' must explicitly initialize the reference member 'someObj'.

So I guess my question is pretty strait forward. How do you initialize a reference?

Answer 1

You’re trying to store a reference to a temporary object that is being destructed immediately, so that will definately go wrong; even when using the constructor initialization lists described in the other answers.

A reference should point to an object that is being stored elsewhere, just like a pointer. Are you sure you even need to use a reference in this case?