A reference has the following advantages over a pointer:

• Easier to use:

  A reference can access the contents of the referenced object directly and without dereferencing.

• Finer and simpler syntax when passing values:

  Call of a function block which passes a reference without an address operator instead of a pointer

  Example: ‎fbDoIt(riInput:=iValue);‎

  Instead of: ‎fbDoIt_1(piInput:=ADR(iValue));‎

• Type safety:

  When assigning two references, the compiler checks whether their base types match. This is not checked in the case of pointers.