Call by Value vs. Call by Reference
| Parameters | Call by value | Call by reference |
| Definition | While calling a function, when you pass values by copying variables, it is known as “Call By Values.” | While calling a function, in programming language instead of copying the values of variables, the address of the variables is used it is known as “Call By References. |
| Arguments | In this method, a copy of the variable is passed. | In this method, a variable itself is passed. |
| Effect | Changes made in a copy of variable never modify the value of variable outside the function. | Change in the variable also affects the value of the variable outside the function. |
| Alteration of value | Does not allow you to make any changes in the actual variables. | Allows you to make changes in the values of variables by using function calls. |
| Passing of variable | Values of variables are passed using a straightforward method. | Pointer variables are required to store the address of variables. |
| Value modification | Original value not modified. | The original value is modified. |
| Memory Location | Actual and formal arguments will be created in different memory location | Actual and formal arguments will be created in the same memory location |
| Safety | Actual arguments remain safe as they cannot be modified accidentally. | Actual arguments are not Safe. They can be accidentally modified, so you need to handle arguments operations carefully. |
| Default | Default in many programming languages like C, C++.PHP. Visual Basic NET, and C#. | It is supported by most programming languages like JAVA, but not as default. |
Advantages of using Call by value method
Pros/benefits of a call by value method:
* The method doesn’t change the original variable, so it is preserving data.
* Whenever a function is called it, never affect the actual contents of the actual arguments.
* Value of actual arguments passed to the formal arguments, so any changes made in the formal argument does not affect the real cases.
Disadvantages of using Call by value method
Here, are major cons/drawbacks of a call by value method:
* Changes to actual parameters can also modify corresponding argument variables
* In this method, arguments must be variables.
* You can’t directly change a variable in a function body.
* Sometime argument can be complex expressions
* There are two copies created for the same variable which is not memory efficient.
Advantages of using Call by reference method
Pros of using call by reference method:
* The function can change the value of the argument, which is quite useful.
* It does not create duplicate data for holding only one value which helps you to save memory space.
* In this method, there is no copy of the argument made. Therefore it is processed very fast.
* Helps you to avoid changes done by mistake
* A person reading the code never knows that the value can be modified in the function.
Disadvantages of using Call by reference method
Here, are major cons of using call by reference method:
* Strong non-null guarantee. A function taking in a reference need to make sure that the input is non-null. Therefore, null check need not be made.
* Passing by reference makes the function not pure theoretically.
* A lifetime guarantee is a big issue with references. This is specifically dangerous when working with lambdas and multi-threaded programs.
