Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
If a procedure has parameters, the part of its definition that specifies the parameters is called its parameter list. By contrast, the arguments are the expressions [6] supplied to the procedure when it is called, usually one expression matching one of the parameters. Unlike the parameters, which form an unchanging part of the procedure's ...
In computer programming, two notions of parameter are commonly used, and are referred to as parameters and arguments—or more formally as a formal parameter and an actual parameter. For example, in the definition of a function such as y = f(x) = x + 2, x is the formal parameter (the parameter) of the defined function.
A copy of the argument is passed in and the value computed during the call is copied to the argument on return: Algol, Swift in-out parameters by name: Like a macro – replace the parameters with the unevaluated argument expressions, then evaluate the argument in the context of the caller every time that the callable uses the parameter: Algol ...
^c In Fortran, function/subroutine parameters are called arguments (since PARAMETER is a language keyword); the CALL keyword is required for subroutines. ^d Instead of using "foo", a string variable may be used instead containing the same value.
This article makes a big deal about the distinction between the terms argument vs. parameter, but I asked several career programmers and computer scientists, and none are used to making this distinction in practice, and in looking at a variety of programming and computer science books, the names argument and parameter are often used ...
With named parameters, it is usually possible to provide the arguments in any order, since the parameter name attached to each argument identifies its purpose. This reduces the connascence between parts of the program. A few languages support named parameters but still require the arguments to be provided in a specific order.
The argument of a circular function is an angle. The argument of a hyperbolic function is a hyperbolic angle. A mathematical function has one or more arguments in the form of independent variables designated in the definition, which can also contain parameters. The independent variables are mentioned in the list of arguments that the function ...
In functional programming languages, and many others, it provides a way of automatically managing how arguments are passed to functions and exceptions. In theoretical computer science , it provides a way to study functions with multiple arguments in simpler theoretical models which provide only one argument.