title: why reference size is always 4 bytes - c++
body: <p>On a 32-bit machine  I always get the <code>sizeof</code> of a reference 4 bytes even if it's a reference to a double, so what does it really store in this 4 bytes. </p>
  
  <p><b> EDIT :</b></p>
  
  <pre><code>class A{
  public:
    double&amp;  a;
  };
  
  int main(){
    cout &lt;&lt; sizeof(A) &lt;&lt; endl; // this will print out 4
  }
  </code></pre>