English Dictionary: subroutine | by the DICT Development Group |
2 results for subroutine | |
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
| |
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (15Feb98) [foldoc]: | |
subroutine for performing a particular task. Most programming languages, including most {machine languages}, allow the programmer to define subroutines. This allows the subroutine code to be called from multiple places, even from within itself (in which case it is called {recursive}). The programming language implementation takes care of returning control to (just after) the calling location, usually with the support of call and return instructions at {machine language} level. Most languages also allow {arguments} to be passed to the subroutine, and one, or occasionally more, {return values} to be passed back. A {function} is often very similar to a subroutine, the main difference being that it is called chiefly for its return value, rather than for any {side effects}. (1996-10-01) |