This SO answer explains the reasoning - https://stackoverflow.com/questions/54100030/why-do-i-need-to-dereference-a-variable-when-comparing-it-but-not-when-doin

This SO answer explains the reasoning - https://stackoverflow.com/questions/54100030/why-do-i-need-to-dereference-a-variable-when-comparing-it-but-not-when-doing-ari https://stackoverflow.com/questions/54100030/why-do-i-need-t... :) Edit: On hindsight, I should've picked a simpler example that doesn't deal with references.