C++ Footprint and Performance Optimization

Passing Data to Functions

When function calls have to be made, it becomes important to find out how this can be done as efficiently as possible. When you look at how functions receive their parameter data, there are basically three options to choose from:

• Passing parameters by value

• Passing parameters by reference

• Using global data

This section examines in detail how to get data to functions via these three methods.

Pass by Reference Versus Pass by Value

As was shown in the previous section, parameters which are passed to a function are placed onto the stack before the function call is made. If a parameter is an integer, the integer is placed on the stack. If a parameter is a pointer to an integer, a pointer to an integer is placed on ...