Are pointers considered a method of calling by reference in C?

Question

In my University\'s C programming class, the professor and subsequent book written by her uses the term call or pass by reference when referring to poin

Answer 1

Reference is an overloaded term here; in general, a reference is simply a way to refer to something. A pointer refers to the object pointed to, and passing (by value) a pointer to an object is the standard way to pass by reference in C.

C++ introduced reference types as a better way to express references, and introduces an ambiguity into technical English, since we may now use the term "pass by reference" to refer to using reference types to pass an object by reference.

In a C++ context, the former use is, IMO, deprecated. However, I believe the former use is common in other contexts (e.g. pure C) where there is no ambiguity.