Reference-based languages

Call me an unreconstructed C zealot ;)

Thanks.

You still have to understand pointers in a reference-based language such as VB(.NET), C# or Java. You just don't see them, and have to remember whether a name means a value or a reference.

You also have to know the difference between ByVal and ByRef in VB, otherwise it bites you when a change to a parameter made inside a method gets reflected up to the caller. Remember that the default for a parameter in VB6 is ByRef, which can cost you more for the simple types.

VB6 also has the braindead convention of being able to put parentheses around a parameter to indicate that it's passed by value where it would normally be a reference (actually, I think it's a side-effect - it gets evaluated as an expression, and a reference to a temporary is passed that's thrown away on return),

I'm not that sure that the mental overhead is worth it.

(Inspired by this Ask Joel thread).