pointers--when to use them

[Lindley]

That particular example is probably a bad idea.

However, good C++ programmers will always prefer references over pointers when all else is equal, since they're, indeed, harder to **** up.

That's what it always comes down to at the end of the day. Write your code in whatever style makes it hardest to do something stupid, and easiest to see at a glance what's going on.