Subroutine
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(Redirected from Procedure)
Overview
- A subroutine (function, method, procedure, sub procedure, or subprogram) is a portion of code within a larger program, which performs a specific task and can be relatively independent of the remaining code.
- Subroutines are similar to functions but differ in that they do not have to return a value.
- A function may be viewed as a special instance of a subroutine
- Some programming languages make very little syntactic distinction between functions and subroutines.
Components
The components of a subroutine may include:
- a body of code to be executed when the subroutine is called,
- parameters that are passed to the subroutine from the point where it is called, and
- a value that is returned to the point where the call occurs.
Advantages
- reducing the duplication of code in a program.
- enabling reuse of code across multiple programs,
- decomposing complex problems into simpler pieces (this improves maintainability and ease of extension),
- improving readability of a program, and
- hiding or regulating part of the program.
