Parameter Passing

In this set of notes you will learn about:

Parameter passing modes

Call by value
Call by reference
Call by sharing
Call by result
Call by value/result
Call by name

Subroutine closures as parameters
Special-purpose parameters

Conformant arrays
Default and optional parameters
Positional versus named parameters
Variable number of parameters

Function returns

Note: These notes cover Section 8.3 of the textbook

Parameter Passing

Formal parameters: the parameters that appear in the declaration of a subroutine

For example, int n in fac's declaration written in C:

int fac(int n)

{ return n ? n*fac(n-1) : 1; }

Actual parameters: the variables and expressions that are passed to a subroutine in a subroutine call

For example, n-1 in the recursive call to fac in the example above

Arguments can also be passed to built-in operations, but the way arguments are handled and evaluated often depends on the built-in operator

For example, n ? n*fac(n-1) : 1 is a conditional expression that evaluates and returns n*fac(n-1) if n is nonzero (in C/C++), otherwise 1 is returned
Syntax of built-in operations often suggests that they are special, but not always, e.g. Lisp and Smalltalk have a uniform syntax for built-in operations and user-defined subroutines

Parameter Passing Modes in C

Call by value parameter passing only: actual parameter is evaluated and its value is assigned to the formal parameter of the function being called
A formal parameter behaves like a local variable and can even be modified in the function without affecting the actual parameter

For example

int fac(int n)

{ if (n < 0) n = 1;

return n ? n*fac(n-1) : 1;

}

Objects can be modified in a function by passing pointers to the object to the function

For example

swap(int *a, int *b)

{ int t = *a; *a = *b; *b = t; }

where a and b are integer pointer formal parameters, and *a and *b in the function body dereference the pointers to access the integers

A function call should explicitly pass pointers to integers, e.g. swap(&x, &y), where x and y are integer variables and &x and &y are the addresses of their values

Arrays and pointers are exchangeble in C: an array is automatically passed as a pointer to the array

Parameter Passing Modes in Fortran

Call by reference parameter passing only
If the actual parameter is an l-value, e.g. a variable, its reference is passed to the subroutine
If the actual parameter is an r-value, e.g. an expression, it is evaluated and assigned to an invisible temporary variable whose reference is passed
For example

SUBROUTINE SHIFT(A, B, C)

INTEGER A, B, C

A = B

B = C

END

When called with SHIFT(X, Y, 0) this results in Y being assigned to X, and Y is set to 0
When called with SHIFT(X, 2, 3) this results in 2 being assigned to X

Parameter Passing Modes in Pascal

Call by value and call by reference parameter passing
Call by value is similar to C
Call by reference is indicated by var parameters

For example

procedure swap(var a:integer, var b:integer)

var t;

begin

t := a; a := b; b := t

end

where the var formal parameters a and b are passed by reference (var t declares a local variable)

Programs can suffer from unnecessary data duplication overhead

When a big array is passed by value it means that the entire array is copied
Therefore, passing arrays by reference instead of by value is not a bad idea to enhance efficiency
Do this unless the array is modified in the subroutine, because call by value will not affect actual parameter but call by reference does, which can lead to buggy code

Parameter Passing Modes in C++

Call by value and call by reference parameter passing
Call by value is similar to C
Call by reference is indicated by using & for formal parameters

For example

swap(int &a, int &b)

{ int t = a; a = b; b = t; }

where the formal parameters a and b are passed by reference, e.g. swap(x, y) exchanges integer variables x and y

Large objects should be passed by reference instead of by value to increase efficiency
Arrays are automatically passed by reference (like in C)
To avoid objects to be inadvertantly modified when passed by reference, const parameters can be used

For example

store_record_in_file(const huge_record &r)

{ ... }

Compiler will prohibit modifications of object in function

const parameters are also supported in ANSI C

Parameter Passing Modes in Languages With Reference Model of Variables

Smalltalk, Lisp, ML, Clu, and Java (partly) adopt reference model of variables
Every variable contains the memory address of the variable's value
Parameter passing of variables is call by sharing in which the address of the value is passed to a subroutine

This is implemented similar to call by value: the content of the variable that is passed is an address to the variable's value

For expressions, call by sharing passes the value of the expression

Parameter Passing Modes in Java

Call by value and call by reference/sharing parameter passing
Java adopts both value and reference models of variables

Variables of built-in types are passed by value
Class instances are passed by sharing
To pass a variable of built-in type by reference, the & can be used for formal parameters (like in C++)

Parameter Passing Modes in Ada

Call by value, call by result, and call by value/result parameter passing
Indicated by Ada's in (by value), out (by result), and in out (by value/result) modes for formal parameters

For example

procedure shift(a:out integer, b:in out integer, c:in integer) is

begin

a := b; b := c;

end shift;

where a is passed out, b is passed in and out, and c is passed in

in mode parameters can be read but not written in the subroutine

Call by value, but writes to the parameter are prohibited in the subroutine

out mode parameters can be written but not read in the subroutine (Ada 95 allows read)

Call by result uses a local variable to which the writes are made and the resulting value is copied to the actual parameter when the subroutine returns

in out mode parameters can be read and written in the subroutine

Call by value/result uses a local variable that is initialized by assigning the actual parameter's value to it and when the subroutine returns the variable's value is copied back to the actual parameter

Parameter Passing Modes in Ada (cont'd)

The Ada compiler generates code for the example Ada shift procedure to implement call by value, call by result, and call by value/result with a structure that is somewhat similar to the following ANSI C function

void shift(int *a, int *b, const int c)

{ int tmpa, tmpb = *b, tmpc = c; //

copy input values before start

tmpa = tmpb; tmpb = tmpc;

*a = tmpa; *b = tmpb; // copy result values before return

}

That is, local variables are initialized with in mode parameters, operated on, and copied to out mode parameters
This is more efficient for simple types, because it avoids repeated pointer indirection necessary to access variables in memory that are passed by reference

The Ada compiler may decide to use call by reference for passing non-scalars (e.g. records and arrays) to optimize the program

This works for in mode, because the parameter cannot be written (like using const in C++ with reference parameters)
This works for out and in out modes, because the parameter is written anyway

Parameter Aliasing Problems

An alias is a variable or formal parameter that refers to the same value location as another variable or formal parameter

Example variable aliases in C++:

int i, &j = i; //j

refers to i (is an alias for i)

...

i = 2; j = 3;

cout << i; // prints3

Example parameter aliases in C++:

shift(int &a, int &b, int &c)

{ a = b; b = c; }

The result of shift(x, y, x) is that x is set to y but y is unchanged

Example variable and parameter aliases in C++:

int sum = 0;

score(int &total, int val)

{ sum += val; total += val; }

The result of score(sum, 7) is that sum is incremented by 14

Java adopts reference model of variables (call by sharing)

Watch out for aliases as problems are hard to correct

Ada forbids parameter aliases

Allows compiler to use call by reference with the same effect as call by result
But not checked by compiler and resulting program behavior is undefined

Call by Name Parameter Passing

C/C++ macros (also called defines) adopt call by name

For example

#define max(a,b) ( (a)>(b) ? (a) : (b) )

A "call" to the macro replaces the macro by the body of the macro (called macro expansion), for example max(n+1, m) is replaced by ((n+1)>(m)?(n+1):(m)) in the program text
Macro expansion is applied to the program source text and amounts to the substitution of the formal parameters with the actual parameter expressions
Formal parameters are often parenthesized to avoid syntax problems after expansion, for example max(c?0:1,b) gives ((c?0:1)>(b)?(c?:0:1):(b)) in which (c?0:1)>(b) would have had a different meaning without parenthesis

Call by name parameter passing reevaluates actual parameter expression each time the formal parameter is read

Watch out for reevaluation of function calls in actual parameters, for example

max(somefunc(),0)

results in the evaluation of somefunc() twice if it returns a value >0

Call by Name Parameter Passing in Algol 60

Algol 60 adopts call by name parameter passing by default (and also supports call by value)
A powerful use of call be name is Jensen's device in which an expression containing a variable is passed to a subroutine with the variable

real procedure sum(expr, i, low, high);

value low, high;

low and high are passed by value

real expr; expr and i are passed by name

integer i, low, high;

begin

real rtn;

rtn := 0;

for i := low step 1 until high do

rtn := rtn + expr;the value of expr depends on the value of i

sum := rtn return value by assigning to function name

end sum

To calculate

y =

10
å
x=1

3x²-5x+2

we can simply write y := sum(3*x*x-5*x+2, x, 1, 10); in which the sum function sums 3*x*x-5*x+2 for variable x ranging from 1 to 10

Parameter Passing Problems

Call by name problem

Cannot write a swap routine that always works!

procedure swap(a, b)

integer a, b, t;

begin t := a; a := b; b := t

end swap

Consider swap(i, a[i]), which executes

t := i

i := a[i] this changes i

a[i] := t assigns t to wrong array element

Call by value/result problem

Behaves differently compared to call by reference in the presence of aliases

procedure shift(a:outinteger, b:in out integer, c:ininteger) is

begin

a := b; b := c;

end shift;

When shift(x,x,0) is called by reference the resulting value of x is 0
When shift(x,x,0) is called by value/result the resulting value of x is either unchanged or 0, because the order of copying out mode parameters is undefined

Conformant Array Parameters

Some languages support conformant array (or open array) parameters, e.g. Ada, Standard Pascal, Modula-2, and C
Pascal arrays have compile-time shape and size

Problem e.g. when required to sort arrays of different sizes because sort procedure accepts one type of array with one size only

Array parameters in Standard Pascal are conformant and array size is not fixed at compile-time

For example:

function sum(A : array [low..high : integer] of real) : real

...

Function sum accepts real typed arrays and low and high act like formal parameters that get the lower and upper bound index of the actual array parameter at run time

C passes only pointers to arrays to functions and array size has to be determined using some other means (e.g. as a function parameter)

Closures as Parameters

Recall that a subroutine closure is a reference to a subroutine together with its referencing environment
Standard Pascal, Ada 95, Modula-2+3 fully support passing of subroutines as closures

Standard Pascal example:

procedure apply_to_A(function f(n:integer):integer; var A : array [low..high : integer] of integer);

var i:integer;

begin

for i := low to high do A[i] := f(A[i])

end

C/C++ support pointers to subroutines

No need for reference environment, because nested subroutines are not allowed
Example:

void apply_to_A(int (*f)(int), int A[], int A_size)

{ int i;

for (i=0; i<A_size; i++) A[i]=f(A[i]);

}

The int (*f)(int) is a formal parameter that is a pointer to a function f from int to int

Default Parameters

Ada, C++, Common Lisp, and Fortran 90 support default parameters
A default parameter is a formal parameter with a default value
When the actual parameter value is ommited in a subroutine call, the user-specified default value is used

Example in C++:

void print_num(int n, int base = 10)

...

A call to print_num(35) uses default value 10 for base as if print_num(35,10) was called

Example in Ada:

procedure put(item : in integer;

width : in field := default_width;

base : in number_base := 10) is

...

A call to put(35) uses default values for the width and base parameters

Positional Versus Named Parameters

Parameters are positional when the first actual parameter corresponds to the first formal parameter, the second actual to the second formal, etc.

All programming languages adopt this natural convention

Ada, Modula-3, Common Lisp, and Fortran 90 also support named parameters
A named parameter (also called keyword parameter) names the formal parameter in a subroutine call

For example in Ada:

put(item => 35, base => 8);

this "assigns" 35 to item and 8 to base, which is the same as:

put(base => 8, item => 35);

and we can mix positional and name parameters as well:

put(35, base => 8);

Advantages:

Documentation of parameter purpose
Allows default parameters anywhere in formal parameter list: with positional parameters, the use of default parameters is often restricted to the last parameters only, because the compiler cannot always tell which parameter is optional in a subroutine call

Variable Number of Arguments

C,C++, and Common Lisp are unusual in that they allow defining subroutines that take a variable number of arguments

Example in C/C++:

#include <stdarg.h>

int plus(int num, ...)

{ int sum;

va_list args; //

declare list of arguments

va_start(args, num); //

initialize list of arguments

for (int i=0; i<num; i++)

sum += va_arg(args, int); //

get next argument (must be int)

va_end(args); //

clean up list of arguments

return sum;

}

Function plus adds a bunch of integers together, where the number of arguments is the first parameter to the function, e.g. plus(4,3,2,1,4) returns 10

Used in the printf and scanf text formatting functions in C

Using variable number of arguments in C and C++ is not type safe as parameter types are not checked
In Common Lisp, one can write (+ 3 2 1 4) to add the integers

Function Returns

Most languages allow a function to return any type of data structure, except a subroutine
Modula-3 and Ada allow a function to return a subroutine implemented as a closure
C and C++ allow functions to return pointers to functions (no closures)
Earlier languages use special variable to hold function return value

Example in Pascal:

function max(a : integer; b : integer) : integer;

begin

if a>b then max := a else max := b

end

There is no return statement, instead the function returns with the value of max when it reaches end

Ada, C, C++, Java, and other more modern languages typically use an explicit return statement to return a value from a function

Example in C:

int max(int a, int b)

{ if (a>b) return a; else return b; }

May require a temporary variable for incremental operations:

int fac(int n)

{ int rtn=1;

for (i=2; i<=n; i++) rtn*=i;

return rtn;

}

return statement is more flexible, but wastes time copying the temporary variable value into return slot of subroutine frame on the stack