Can someone explain why 'b' is not 7 in the output of the below C++ code ? (1619 is the answer btw)

Question

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int fun(int &a, const int &b) {

a*=b;
return b+3;
}

int main() {
int x = 4;
int y = fun(x,x);
cout << x << y;
return 0;
}

Answer 1

It's because &a and &b are "x".

&a <---> x
&b <---> x

a*=b ; // 4*4 =16
// then x=16 then b=16.

return b+3 ; // 16+3=19

If you change "a" then you change "x". So if you changed "a" then you changed "b".

Answer 2

because a and b are using same reference variable.

quote from geeksforgeeks ``` A reference is same object, just with a different name and reference must refer to an object``` [ https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/passing-by-pointer-vs-passing-by-reference-in-c/ ]