ECMA-334: 12.1.5 Reference parameters
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| C# Language Specification |
| © 2006 ECMA International |
12.1.5 Reference parameters
A parameter declared with a ref modifier is a reference parameter.
A reference parameter does not create a new storage location. Instead, a reference parameter represents the same storage location as the variable given as the argument in the function member invocation. Thus, the value of a reference parameter is always the same as the underlying variable.
The following definite assignment rules apply to reference parameters. [Note: The rules for output parameters are different, and are described in §12.1.6. end note]
- A variable shall be definitely assigned (§12.3) before it can be passed as a reference parameter in a function member invocation.
- Within a function member, a reference parameter is considered initially assigned.
Within an instance method or instance accessor of a struct type, the this keyword behaves exactly as a
reference parameter of the struct type (§14.5.7).
