Welcome to OGeek Q&A Community for programmer and developer-Open, Learning and Share
Welcome To Ask or Share your Answers For Others

Categories

0 votes
570 views
in Technique[技术] by (71.8m points)

terminology - What is the difference between a "function" and a "procedure"?

Generally speaking, we all hear about the functions or procedures in programming languages. However, I just found out that I use these terms almost interchangeably (which is probably very wrong).

So, my question is:

What is the difference in terms of their functionality, their purpose and use?

An example would be appreciated.

Question&Answers:os

与恶龙缠斗过久,自身亦成为恶龙;凝视深渊过久,深渊将回以凝视…
Welcome To Ask or Share your Answers For Others

1 Reply

0 votes
by (71.8m points)

A function returns a value and a procedure just executes commands.

The name function comes from math. It is used to calculate a value based on input.

A procedure is a set of commands which can be executed in order.

In most programming languages, even functions can have a set of commands. Hence the difference is only returning a value.

But if you like to keep a function clean, (just look at functional languages), you need to make sure a function does not have a side effect.


与恶龙缠斗过久,自身亦成为恶龙;凝视深渊过久,深渊将回以凝视…
OGeek|极客中国-欢迎来到极客的世界,一个免费开放的程序员编程交流平台!开放,进步,分享!让技术改变生活,让极客改变未来! Welcome to OGeek Q&A Community for programmer and developer-Open, Learning and Share
Click Here to Ask a Question

...