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Loosely, a parameter is a type, and an argument is an instance. A parameter is an intrinsic property of the procedure, included in its definition. For example, in many languages, a procedure to add two supplied integers together and calculate the sum would need two parameters, one for each integer.
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.
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Currying provides a way for working with functions that take multiple arguments, and using them in frameworks where functions might take only one argument. For example, some analytical techniques can only be applied to functions with a single argument. Practical functions frequently take more arguments than this.
Alternatively, arguments can be passed in registers. Function routines returned the result in ACC for real arguments, or in a memory location referred to as the Real Number Pseudo-Accumulator (FAC). Arguments and the return address were addressed using an offset to the IAR value stored in the first location of the subroutine.
Notice that the type of the result can be regarded as everything past the first supplied argument. This is a consequence of currying, which is made possible by Haskell's support for first-class functions; this function requires two inputs where one argument is supplied and the function is "curried" to produce a function for the argument not supplied.