Question

This code:

int a = 5;
int& b = a;
b = 7;
cout << a;

prints out 7, and replacing int& b with int &b also prints out 7.

In fact so does int&b and int & b.

I tested this kind of behavior with a simple class as well. In general, does it ever matter whether the ampersand is placed relative to the type and identifier? Thanks.

Answer 1

No, there is absolutely no difference except coding style. I think the main argument about coding style is that this declaration:

int& a, b;

declares a as an int& and b as an int.