Parameters, arguments, and return values

Parameters make functions flexible. A parameter is a variable listed in a function's definition, and an argument is the actual value passed in when the function is called. For example, a function defined as area(width, height) that returns width times height can be called as area(3, 4), where 3 and 4 are the arguments, and it returns 12. A return value sends a result back to the code that called the function, so it can be stored in a variable or used in another calculation, unlike printing, which only displays a value. Variables created inside a function are usually local, existing only while the function runs, which keeps functions from accidentally interfering with each other. Writing general functions with parameters, instead of many nearly identical copies of code, is called procedural abstraction: you can use a function knowing what it does without needing to know how it works inside.

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