   Parameters by Reference inefficient for small types?
  hi,can someone tell me at which data size it becomes efficient to pass parameters by reference?i think passing 32-bit integers per reference is a big waste, since it takes more instructions than if it were passed by value.can someone give me a hint?thanks Gammastrahler 
  Normally anything smaller than about two pointer widths should be passed by value.  If reference semantics are wanted, it''d be nice if compilers could perform copy in, copy out for such functions.  I don''t know of any C++ compilers which do, however.;  Well if you need to change the value of that variable you dont have much of a choice... 