Question

Suppose I have a C++ class with an attribute that is a reference:

class ClassB {
    ClassA &ref;
public:
    ClassB(ClassA &_ref);
}

Of course, the constructor is defined this way:

ClassB::ClassB(ClassA &_ref) : ref(_ref) { /* ... */ }

My question is: When an instance of class ‘ClassB’ is destroyed, is the object referenced by ‘ClassB::ref’ also destroyed?

Answer 1

A reference is nothing but an alias for a variable, the alias gets destructed, not the actual variable. You could consider it some kind of pointer, but there are reasons to refrain from this kind of (evil) thoughts :).