# References

Within Ghidra, the term "Reference" covers two very broad areas:

1. Forward References from a data or instruction code unit to a memory, external, stack, or register location
2. Back References to a location of interest (e.g., code unit, variable, data-type, etc.).

## Forward References

Forward References can be explicitly defined within the program, on data or instruction code units. This is accomplished during disassembly, auto-analysis or manually by the user. In addition, Forward References to function parameters and variables may also be inferred. Both explicit and inferred Forward References can affect the code unit rendering and XRefs (i.e., Back References) displayed within the CodeBrowser listing. The effect of Forward References on the rendering of code unit operands can be somewhat controlled by means of various Code Browser Options (see Operands Field options).

Management capabilities for explicit Forward References is provided by the ReferencesPlugin and is discussed in detail within the Forward References help section.

## Back References

Back References (also referred to as "Location References") include both the inverse of Forward References, and the identification of listing locations where specific data-types are utilized. The viewing of Location/Back References is provided by the LocationReferencesPlugin and discussed in more detail on the Location References Dialog help section.