Call by reference or pass by reference?
call by reference is a noun meaning “An evaluation strategy in which the arguments to a function are evaluated…”; pass by reference is a noun meaning “Synonym of call-by-reference”.
What is the difference between call by reference and pass by reference?
| call by reference | pass by reference | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | An evaluation strategy in which the arguments to a function are evaluated first, and a pointer to the result is passed to the function | Synonym of call-by-reference |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | not recorded |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | not counted (the list counts single words) |
Sources: call by reference and pass by reference in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of call by reference and pass by reference
call by reference
- 1
An evaluation strategy in which the arguments to a function are evaluated first, and a pointer to the result is passed to the function
- 2
Alternative form of call-by-reference
pass by reference
- 1
Synonym of call-by-reference
- 2
Alternative form of call-by-reference
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.