References are Values

• Suppose you have declared r to be an Account variable, i.e., you have the declaration

Account a;

• Then you can assign any reference to an Account object into variable r.

• Example:

  /* If k is 1, deposit d into account1, otherwise deposit d into account2. */

if ( k == 1 ) a = account1;

else a = account2;

// Deposit d to Account a.

a.balance = a.balance + d;

a.deposits = a.deposits + d;

• Two or more variables that refer to the same object are called aliases.