basic question in c++

Question

in string class we have function
basic_string& append(Inputiterator_first,Inputiterator_Last)
my question is what is meaning of '&' and why they have put '&' sign between string and append

Answer 1

format is always the same :
return_type name(parameters)

so the function returns a reference (here is the use of '&') to a basic_string

checkout reference for more information & examples : https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/string/basic_string/append

Answer 2

thank u ~ swim ~ and darrencweid

Answer 3

~ swim ~ yes thanks, fixed ;)