What s the difference between an argument and a parameter

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When verbally talking about methods  I m never sure whether to use the word argument or parameter or something else  Either way the other people know what I mean  but what s correct  and what s the history of the terms   I m a C  programmer  but I also wonder whether people use different terms in different languages   For the record I m self-taught without a background in Computer Science   Please don t tell me to read Code Complete because I m asking this for the benefit of other people who don t already have a copy of Steve McConnell s marvellous book    Summary  The general consensus seems to be that it s OK to use these terms interchangeably in a team environment  Except perhaps when you re defining the precise terminology  then you can also use  formal argument parameter  and  actual argument parameter  to disambiguate

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Parameters are variables that are used to store the data that s passed into a function for the function to use  Arguments are the actual data that s passed into a function when it is invoked      x and y are parameters in this function declaration function add x  y         function body   var sum   x   y    return sum     return statement       1 and 2 are passed into the function as arguments var sum   add 1  2

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Parameter is a variable in a function definition Argument is a value of parameter   lt  php         define function        function myFunction  parameter1   parameter2                echo  This is value of paramater 1    parameter1   lt br   gt            echo  This is value of paramater 2    parameter2   lt br   gt                  call function with arguments       myFunction 1  2      gt

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Simple Explanations without code  A  parameter  is a very general  broad thing  but an  argument  is a very specific  concrete thing  This is best illustrated via everyday examples   Example 1  Vending Machines - Money is the parameter   2 00 is the argument  Most machines take an input and return an output  For example a vending machine takes as an input  money  and returns  fizzy drinks as the output  In that particular case  it accepts as a parameter  money    What then is the argument  Well if I put  2 00 into the machine  then the argument is   2 00 - it is the very specific input used   Example 2  Cars - Petrol is the parameter  Let s consider a car  they accept petrol  unleaded gasoline  as an input  It can be said that these machines accept parameters of type  petrol  The argument would be the exact and concrete input I put into my car  e g  In my case  the argument would be  40 litres of unleaded petrol gasoline   Example 3 - Elaboration on Arguments  An argument is a particular and specific example of an input  Suppose my machine takes a person as an input and turns them into someone who isn t a liar   What then is an argument  The argument will be the particular person who is actually put into the machine  e g  if Colin Powell is put into the machine then the argument would be Colin Powell    So the parameter would be a person as an abstract concept  but the argument would always be a particular person with a particular name who is put into the machine  The argument is specific and concrete   That s the difference  Simple   Confused   Post a comment and I ll fix up the explanation

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As my background and main environment is C  I will provide some statements citations to that topic from the actual C standard and an important reference book  from also one of the developers of C  which is often cited and common treated as the first unofficial standard of C   The C Programming Language  2nd Edition  by Brian W  Kernighan and Dennis M  Ritchie  April 1988    Page 25  Section 1 7 - Functions We will generally use parameter for a variable named in the parenthesized list in a function definition  and argument for the value used in the call of the function  The terms formal argument and actual argument are sometimes used for the same distinction   ISO IEC 9899 2018  C18    3 3 argument actual argument DEPRECATED  actual parameter expression in the comma-separated list bounded by the parentheses in a function call expression  or a sequence of preprocessing tokens in the comma-separated list bounded by the parentheses in a function-like macro invocation     3 16 parameter formal parameter DEPRECATED  formal argument object declared as part of a function declaration or definition that acquires a value on entry to the function  or an identifier from the comma-separated list bounded by the parentheses immediately following the macro name in a function-like macro definition

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The parameters of a function method describe to you the values that it uses to calculate its result   The arguments of a function are the values assigned to these parameters during a particular call of the function method

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A parameter is something you have to fill in when you call a function  What you put in it is the argument    Simply set  the argument goes into the parameter  an argument is the value of the parameter   A bit more info on  http   en wikipedia org wiki Parameter  computer science  Parameters and arguments

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Parameter is variable in the declaration of function   Argument is the actual value of this variable that gets passed to function

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In editing  I m often put off at how people forget  structure languages are based on natural languages    In English  A  parameter  is a placeholder  They set the response format  in spoken language  By definition  it s party to the call  limiting the response   An  argument  is a position that is being considered  You argue your opinion  you consider an argument    Main difference  The thematic role of an argument is agent   The thematic role of parameter is recipient    Interactions  Think of the argument as the male part  making the parameter the female part  The argument goes into the parameter    Usage  A parameter is usually used in definitions  An argument is usually used in invocations    Questions  Finish the sentence to make it less dissonant    A  Speaking of a definition    What argument will be used     What    will this parameter        B  Speaking of an invocation    What parameter will you use      What    will be    this parameter     Answers   A     on in against with this parameter argument s      take     B     and what are some example arguments argument s      used on in against with   Overlaps  As you can imagine  after answering  in spoken language  these words will sometimes produce identical responses    So  as a rule     Usually if someone wants parameter information  they want to know more about the type  the variable name  etc  They may become confused if you only give example arguments     Usually if someone wants argument information  they want to know what value you passed to a function or its parameter s

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The terms are somewhat interchangeable  The distinction described in other answers is more properly expressed with the terms formal parameter for the name used inside the body of the function and parameter for the value supplied at the call site  formal argument and argument are also common    Also note that  in mathematics  the term argument is far more common and parameter usually means something quite different  though the parameter in a parametric equation is essentially the argument to two or more functions

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Generally speaking  the terms parameter and argument are used interchangeably to mean information that is passed into a function   Yet  from a function s perspective    A parameter is the variable listed inside the parentheses in the function definition  An argument is the value that is sent to the function when it is called

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Or may be its even simpler to remember like this  in case of optional arguments for a method   public void Method string parameter    argument           parameter is the parameter  its value   argument  is the argument

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Let s say you re an airline  You build an airplane  You install seats in it  Then  you fill the plane up with passengers and send it somewhere  The passengers  or rather  some spatio-temporally altered version thereof  disembark  Next day  you re-use the same plane  and same seats  but with different passengers this time    The plane is your function    The parameters are the seats    The arguments are the passengers that go in those seats

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They both dont have much difference in usage in C  both the terms are used in practice      Mostly arguments are often used with functions  The value passed with the function calling statement is called the argument  And the parameter would be the variable which copies the value in the function definition  called as formal parameter        int main            local variable definition       int a   100     int b   200     int ret         calling a function to get max value       ret   max a  b       printf   Max value is    d n   ret        return 0        function returning the max between two numbers    int max int num1  int num2           local variable declaration       int result      if  num1  gt  num2        result   num1     else       result   num2      return result       In the above code num1 and num2 are formal parameters and a and b are actual arguments

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When we create the method  function  in Java  the method like this    data-type name of the method  data-type variable-name   In the parenthesis  these are the parameters  and when we call the method  function  we pass the value of this parameter  which are called the arguments

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Always Remember that - Arguments are passed while parameters are recieved

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Yes  Parameters and Arguments have different meanings  which can be easily explained as follows   Function Parameters are the names listed in the function definition   Function Arguments are the real values passed to  and received by  the function

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An argument is an instantiation of a parameter

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Parameters are the variables received by a function Hence they are visible in function declaration They contain the variable name with their data type  Arguments are actual values which are passed to another function  thats why we can see them in function call  They are just values without their datatype

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This example might help   int main         int x   5      int y   4      sum x  y        x and y are arguments      int sum int one  int two         one and two are parameters      return one   two

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Parameter   A value that is already  quot built in quot  to a function  Parameters can be changed so that the function can be used for other things    Argument   An input to a function A variable that affects a functions result     Source

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A parameter is a variable in a method definition  When a method is called  the arguments are the data you pass into the method s parameters   public void MyMethod string myParam            string myArg1    this is my argument   myClass MyMethod myArg1

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Parameter is variable in the declaration of function   Argument is the actual value of this variable that gets passed to function

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The use of the terms parameters and arguments have been misused   somewhat among programmers and even authors  When dealing with   methods  the term parameter is used to identify the placeholders in   the method signature  whereas the term arguments are the actual   values that you pass in to the method    MCSD Cerfification Toolkit  Exam 70-483  Programming in C   1st edition  Wrox  2013  Real-world case scenario     Define a method with two parameters int Sum int num1  int num2       return num1   num2        Call the method using two arguments var ret   Sum 2  3

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Simple    PARAMETER   PLACEHOLDER  This means a placeholder belongs to the function naming and be used in the function body  ARGUMENT   ACTUAL VALUE  This means an actual value which is passed by the function calling

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According to Joseph s Alabahari book  C  in a Nutshell   C  7 0  p  49     static void Foo  int x        x   x   1     When you re talking in context of this method x is parameter     Console WriteLine  x     static void Main         Foo  8      an argument of 8                   When you re talking from the outer scope point of view     In some human languages  afaik Italian  Russian  synonyms are widely used for these terms    parameter   formal parameter argument   actual parameter   In my university professors use both kind of names

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Oracle s Java tutorials define this distinction thusly   Parameters refers to the list of variables in a method declaration  Arguments are the actual values that are passed in when the method is invoked  When you invoke a method  the arguments used must match the declaration s parameters in type and order    A more detailed discussion of parameters and arguments   https   docs oracle com javase tutorial java javaOO arguments html

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You need to get back to basics Both constructors and methods have parameters and arguments Many people even call constructors special kind of methods This is how a method is declared parameters are used         type name parameters                body of method               And this is how a constructor is declared parameters are used   classname parameters     body     Now lets see an example code using which we calculate the volume of a cube   public class cuboid       double width      double height      double depth         cuboid double w double h double d             Here w h and d are parameters of constructor        this width w         this height h         this depth d                    public double volume             double v          v width height depth          return v                    public static void main String args                cuboid c1 new cuboid 10 20 30                Here 10 20 and 30 are arguments of a constructor            double vol             vol c1 volume               System out println  Volume is   vol                         So now you understand that when we call a constructor method on an object at some place later in the code we pass arguments and not parameters Hence parameters are limited to the place where the logical object is defined but arguments come into play when a physical object gets actually created

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Logically speaking we re actually talking about the same thing  But I think a simple metaphor would be helpful to solve this dilemma    If the metaphors can be called various connection point we can equate them to plug points on a wall  In this case we can consider parameters and arguments as follows   Parameters are the sockets of the plug-point which may take various different shapes  But only certain types of plugs fit them  Arguments will be the actual plugs that would be plugged into the plug points sockets to activate certain equipments

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Or even simpler     Arguments in    Parameters out

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I thought it through and realized my previous answer was wrong  Here s a much better definition   Imagine a carton of eggs  A pack of sausage links  And a maid   These represent elements of a Function needed for preparation called    use any name  Lets say Cooking is the name of my function     A Maid is a method       You must   call  or ask this method to make breakfast  The act of making breakfast is a Function called Cooking    Eggs and sausages are Parameters     because the number of eggs and the number of sausages you want to eat is   variable       Your decision is an Argument     It represents the   Value  of the chosen number of eggs and or sausages you are Cooking      Mnemonic      When you call the maid and ask her to make breakfast  she   argues  with you about how many eggs and sausages you should eating  She s concerned about your cholesterol        Arguments   then   are the values for the combination of Parameters you have declared and decided to pass to your Function

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There is already a Wikipedia entry on the subject  see Parameter  that defines and distinguishes the terms parameter and argument  In short  a parameter is part of the function procedure method signature and an argument is the actual value supplied at run-time and or call-site for the parameter    The Wikipedia article also states that the two terms are often used synonymously  especially when reasoning about code informally       Although parameters are also commonly   referred to as arguments  arguments   are more properly thought of as the   actual values or references assigned   to the parameter variables when the   subroutine is called at runtime    Given the following example function in C that adds two integers  x and y would be referred to as its parameters   int add int x  int y        return x   y      At a call-site using add  such as the example shown below  123 and 456 would be referred to as the arguments of the call   int result   add 123  456     Also  some language specifications  or formal documentation  choose to use parameter or argument exclusively and use adjectives like formal and actual instead to disambiguate between the two cases  For example  C C   documentation often refers to function parameters as formal arguments and function call arguments as actual arguments  For an example  see    Formal and Actual Arguments    in the Visual C   Language Reference

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Parameters and Arguments     All the different terms that have to do with parameters and arguments   can be confusing  However  if you keep a few simple points in mind    you will be able to easily handle these terms          The formal parameters for a function are listed in the function declaration and are used in the body of the function definition  A   formal parameter  of any sort  is a kind of blank or placeholder that   is filled in with something when the function is called    An argument is something that is used to fill in a formal parameter    When you write down a function call  the arguments are listed in   parentheses after the function name  When the function call is   executed  the arguments are plugged in for the formal parameters    The terms call-by-value and call-by-reference refer to the mechanism   that is used in the plugging-in process  In the call-by-value method   only the value of the argument is used  In this call-by-value   mechanism  the formal parameter is a local variable that is   initialized to the value of the corresponding argument  In the   call-by-reference mechanism the argument is a variable and the   entire variable is used  In the call- by-reference mechanism the   argument variable is substituted for the formal parameter so that   any change that is made to the formal parameter is actually made to   the argument variable       Source  Absolute C    Walter Savitch  That is

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The formal parameters for a function are listed in the function declaration and are used in the body of the function definition  A formal parameter  of any sort  is a kind of blank or placeholder that is filled in with something when the function is called   An argument is something that is used to fill in a formal parameter  When you write down a function call  the arguments are listed in parentheses after the function name  When the function call is executed  the arguments are plugged in for the formal parameters   The terms call-by-value and call-by-reference refer to the mechanism that is used in the plugging-in process  In the call-by-value method only the value of the argument is used  In this call-by-value mechanism  the formal parameter is a local variable that is initialized to the value of the corresponding argument  In the call-by-reference mechanism the argument is a variable and the entire variable is used  In the call- by-reference mechanism the argument variable is substituted for the formal parameter so that any change that is made to the formal parameter is actually made to the argument variable

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It s explained perfectly in Parameter  computer programming  - Wikipedia  Loosely  a parameter is a type  and an argument is an instance   In the function definition f x    x x the variable x is a parameter  in the function call f 2  the value   2 is the argument of the function    And  Parameter - Wikipedia  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   When the function is evaluated for a given value  as in  f 3   or  y   f 3    3   2   5   is the actual parameter  the argument  for evaluation by the defined function  it is a given value  actual value  that is substituted for the formal parameter of the defined function   In casual usage the terms parameter and argument might inadvertently be interchanged  and thereby used incorrectly

[parameters] What's the difference between an argument and a parameter?

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