Help - What does litem*& list stands for?

[PredicateNormative]

In addition to Russco's explanation, if you wanted the C equivalent of

void set(int*& ptr)
{
    ptr = assign_to_something();
}

then you would need to write

void set( int** ptr)
{
    *ptr = assign_to_something();
}

which not only makes the function look slightly messier, but from an interface perspective, it is not obvious why you require int** ptr - a user may legitimately ask, is it because you want to modify the pointer or, is it that you require int** prt because you are expecting a pointer to an array of pointers? In addition, the caller needs to reference the pointer in the function call i.e.

int main()
{
  int* ptr=0;
  
  set(&ptr);
}

The pass-by-referece mechanism that C++ offers is much clearer and leaves far less room for error:

void set(int*& ptr)
{
    ptr = assign_to_something();
}

int main()
{
  int* ptr=0;
  
  set(ptr);
}