So we have learned about references (aliases), which are created by using the & symbol in a variable declaration. But the & sign can have another meaning.

The “address of” operator, &, is used to get the memory address, the location in the memory, of an object.

Suppose we declare a variable called:

int porcupine_count = 3;

Have you wondered where the variable porcupine_count is stored on the computer? We can find out by printing out &porcupine_count:

std::cout << &porcupine_count << "\n";

It will return something like:

0x7ffd7caa5b54

This is a memory address represented in hexadecimal. A memory address is usually denoted in hexadecimal instead of binary for readability and conciseness.

The double meaning of the & symbol can be tricky at first, so make sure to note:

• When & is used in a declaration, it is a reference operator.
• When & is not used in a declaration, it is an address operator.