How do you correctly pass a reference to a two-dimensional array in C ?

Passing a Reference to a Two-Dimensional Array in C

When passing a reference to a two-dimensional array to a function, it is crucial to declare the parameter correctly to avoid compilation errors. The provided code snippet attempts to pass a reference to a two-dimensional array but encounters an error.

To resolve this issue, it is necessary to declare the function parameter using the correct notation:

<code class="cpp">void do_something(int (&array)[board_width][board_height]);</code>

This syntax declares the array as a reference to an array of size board_width. The embedded square brackets are essential for defining the dimensionality of the array.

In contrast, the following declaration:

<code class="cpp">void do_something(int array[board_width][board_height]);</code>

actually passes a pointer to the first sub-array of the two-dimensional array, which is not typically the desired behavior when passing a reference.

By declaring the parameter as a reference using the "&" operator, the function can directly access and modify the contents of the original array. This is in contrast to passing a pointer, which would only allow the function to indirectly access the array elements through pointer dereferencing.

Using the correct reference declaration ensures that the function can handle and manipulate the two-dimensional array as intended, without the need to explicitly pass the array's dimensions as arguments.

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