Do you have any question about this SAP term?
Component: BC-ABA
Component Name: ABAP Runtime Environment
Description: Data object that contains a reference. We distinguish between data reference variables and object reference variables. Reference variables have a length of 8 bytes and are opaque, that is you cannot access the reference directly. They are typed using the REF TO addition, which defines their static type. The static type must always be more general than or the same as the dynamic type. Refernce semantics apply when assigning between reference variables.
Key Concepts: A reference variable is a type of variable in SAP's ABAP Runtime Environment (BC-ABA) that stores a reference to an object. It is used to access the object without having to create a new instance of it. How to use it: Reference variables are declared using the REF TO statement. The syntax for this statement is REF TO