22 lines
1.4 KiB
HTML
22 lines
1.4 KiB
HTML
<p>
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Functions are probably the most powerful construct in programming. They allows you to pull out shared code and <b>reuse</b>
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it anytime to <b>reduce typing</b>, <b>reduce bugs</b> and make your code more <b>readable</b>.
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It also allows to break down your program in more understandable chunks of code, which you can name.
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This highly increases the readability and maintainability of your program.
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Last but not least it allows you to use recursion. But more on that later.
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</p>
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<p>
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A function has a <b>return type</b>, a <b>name</b>, <b>parameters</b> and the <b>body</b>.
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If the function doesn't return anything, you just write <b>void</b> as the return type.
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The name is used to call the function and the parameters define, what arguments you have
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to pass to the function and which types they need to be.
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The body finally holds the code, which gets executed, when the function gets called.
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</p>
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<p>
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You will probably hear diffident names for what we are calling functions.
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The most accurate are procedures ore subroutines. These mean exactly what we described before.
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Sometimes you will hear the term method. This is a term from object oriented programming and describes a procedure, which is a member of an object.
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The term functions is a little bit overloaded. Normally when it is used,
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people talk about procedures but it is also used in the functional programming paradigm.
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</p>
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