The best example coming in my mind is a function to Swap two variables values:
static void Swap(ref T el1, ref T el2)
{
var mem = el1;
el1 = el2;
el2 = mem;
}
Usage:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string a = "Hello";
string b = "Hi";
Swap(ref a, ref b);
// now a = "Hi" b = "Hello"
// it works also with array values:
int[] arr = new[] { 1, 2, 3 };
Swap(ref arr[0], ref arr[2]);
// now arr = {3,2,1}
}
A function like this one, cannot be done without the ref
keyword.