# Variables, classes, and references

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/variables-classes-and-references/313052>\
**Category:** programming\
**Created:** [August 18, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/variables-classes-and-references/313052 "2010-08-18T18:53:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![IQAndreas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f08c70/32.png) [@IQAndreas](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/IQAndreas)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/variables-classes-and-references/313052/1 "2010-08-18T18:53:10Z")

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I just learned about references today (a bit late, but yeay!)

I wanted to double check, if you have a complex class (not a standard number or string) will it be passed as a reference, or will it ALWAYS be cloned every time you do a standard “assignment”? Or will it pass a reference like it does in AS3?

Is there any standard naming convention for variables that are references rather than direct values?