Re: Call by reference vs. call by value

[dewar@cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar)]

James said

"Since the out parameter is the same variable as the in parameter, if the
compiler writers chose to use "reference" for both the in and out parameter
then the value of the in parameter would change everytime the out parameter
changed.  Sounds hokie but they could probably get away with it with the
language referenced above."

Well passing arrays by reference may seem hokie (isn't that word spelled
hoky -- don't really know, it is not in my dictionary :-), but it is
quite usual, and is certainly what you want for really large arrays.
Most Ada programs will pass all arrays by reference, as will most Fortran
programs. To me, a compiler that passed all arrays by copy would be
*really* broken -- at least we didnt' go that far in GNAT!