Argument vs. Parameter — What's the Difference?

Can be constants, variables, or expressions evaluated by the function.

A named entity in a function definition that specifies the kind of data the function expects.

The actual value or expression passed to a function when it is called.

Integral to defining how a function is structured and what it can accept.

Passed from outside the function and only relevant during the function call.

Allows functions to be generic and work with different data.

Provides the specific data that the function will operate on.

Exists only within the function in which it is defined.

Determines the actual inputs for the function at the time of execution.

Serves as a placeholder for data that will be passed to the function.

In logic and philosophy, an argument is a series of statements (in a natural language), called the premises or premisses (both spellings are acceptable), intended to determine the degree of truth of another statement, the conclusion. The logical form of an argument in a natural language can be represented in a symbolic formal language, and independently of natural language formally defined "arguments" can be made in math and computer science.

A parameter (from the Ancient Greek παρά, para: "beside", "subsidiary"; and μέτρον, metron: "measure"), generally, is any characteristic that can help in defining or classifying a particular system (meaning an event, project, object, situation, etc.). That is, a parameter is an element of a system that is useful, or critical, when identifying the system, or when evaluating its performance, status, condition, etc.

An exchange of diverging or opposite views, typically a heated or angry one

A numerical or other measurable factor forming one of a set that defines a system or sets the conditions of its operation

A reason or set of reasons given in support of an idea, action or theory

A limit or boundary which defines the scope of a particular process or activity

An independent variable associated with a function or proposition and determining its value. For example, in the expression y = F(x₁, x₂), the arguments of the function F are x₁ and x₂, and the value is y.

A constant in an equation that varies in other equations of the same general form, especially such a constant in the equation of a curve or surface that can be varied to represent a family of curves or surfaces.

Any of the noun phrases in a clause that are related directly to the verb, typically the subject, direct object, and indirect object.

One of a set of independent variables that express the coordinates of a point.

A summary of the subject matter of a book.

One of a set of measurable factors, such as temperature and pressure, that define a system and determine its behavior and are varied in an experiment.

A discussion in which the parties involved express disagreement with one another; a debate

Usage Problem A factor that restricts what is possible or what results

An angry discussion involving disagreement among the participants; a quarrel

A factor that determines a range of variations; a boundary

(Archaic) A reason or matter for dispute or contention

(Statistics) A quantity, such as a mean, that is calculated from data and describes a population.

A course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating truth or falsehood

Usage Problem A distinguishing characteristic or feature.

A fact or statement put forth as proof or evidence; a reason

A value kept constant during an experiment, equation, calculation, or similar, but varied over other versions of the experiment, equation, calculation, etc.

A set of statements in which one follows logically as a conclusion from the others.

(sciences) A variable that describes some system (material, object, event, etc.) or some aspect thereof.

A summary or short statement of the plot or subject of a literary work.

(statistics) Any measured quantity of a statistical population that summarises or describes an aspect of the population.

A topic; a subject

(machine learning) A variable of a model that is trained by a machine learning algorithm.

(Logic) The minor premise in a syllogism.

(programming) An input variable of a function definition, that gets an actual value (argument) at execution time.

The independent variable of a function.

An actual value given to such a formal parameter.

The angle of a complex number measured from the positive horizontal axis.

A characteristic or feature that distinguishes something from others.

(Computers) A value used to evaluate a procedure or subroutine.

(geometry) In the ellipse and hyperbola, a third proportional to any diameter and its conjugate, or in the parabola, to any abscissa and the corresponding ordinate.

(Linguistics) A word, phrase, or clause in a semantic relation with a word or phrase and that helps complete the meaning of that word or phrase, such as a noun phrase that is the object of a verb. The clause that we go is an argument of the verb suggest in the sentence I suggest that we go.

(crystallography) The ratio of the three crystallographic axes which determines the position of any plane.

A fact or statement used to support a proposition; a reason.

(crystallography) The fundamental axial ratio for a given species.

A series of propositions organized so that the final proposition is a conclusion which is intended to follow logically from the preceding propositions, which function as premises.

A constant number which is part of a theory, function, or calculation, whose value is not determined by the form of the theory or equation itself, and may in some cases be arbitrary assigned.

(countable) A process of reasoning; argumentation.

A term applied to some characteristic magnitude whose value, invariable as long as one and the same function, curve, surface, etc., is considered, serves to distinguish that function, curve, surface, etc., from others of the same kind or family.

(countable) An abstract or summary of the content of a literary work such as a book, a poem or a major section such as a chapter, included in the work before the content itself; (figuratively) the contents themselves.

Any constant number which is required to calculate values of observed phenomena according to a theory, but the value of which must be determined by experiment, and cannot be calculated from the fundamental assumptions of the theory. In general, a theory which has a large number of parameters, though it may accurately predict experimental results, is considered as having less explanatory power and as being less esthetically pleasing than a theory with fewer parameters.

(countable) A verbal dispute; a quarrel.

The ratio of the three crystallographic axes which determines the position of any plane; also, the fundamental axial ratio for a given species.

Any dispute, altercation, or collision.

The limits, guidelines, or assumptions from within which an activity is carried out; as, new arrivals need to learn the parameters of the research in our department.

Any of the phrases that bears a syntactic connection to the verb of a clause.

A variable used in a calculation within a computer program which must be assigned a value before the calculation can be performed; as, let's plug in the parameters and see what the result is.

The independent variable of a function.

A characteristic or element, especially one used as a criterion for evaluation or judgment; as, a useful parameter for determining efficiency.

The phase of a complex number.

A constant in the equation of a curve that can be varied to yield a family of similar curves

A quantity on which the calculation of another quantity depends.

Any factor that defines a system and determines (or limits) its performance

A value, or a reference to a value, passed to a function.

A quantity (such as the mean or variance) that characterizes a statistical population and that can be estimated by calculations from sample data

A parameter at a function call; an actual parameter, as opposed to a formal parameter.

A matter in question; a business in hand.

The subject matter of an artistic representation, discourse, or writing; a theme or topic.

Evidence, proof; (countable) an item of such evidence or proof.

To put forward as an argument; to argue.

To adduce evidence, to provide proof.

Proof; evidence.

A reason or reasons offered in proof, to induce belief, or convince the mind; reasoning expressed in words; as, an argument about, concerning, or regarding a proposition, for or in favor of it, or against it.

A process of reasoning, or a controversy made up of rational proofs; argumentation; discussion; disputation.

The subject matter of a discourse, writing, or artistic representation; theme or topic; also, an abstract or summary, as of the contents of a book, chapter, poem.

Matter for question; business in hand.

The quantity on which another quantity in a table depends; as, the altitude is the argument of the refraction.

The independent variable upon whose value that of a function depends.

To make an argument; to argue.

A fact or assertion offered as evidence that something is true;

A contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement;

A discussion in which reasons are advanced for and against some proposition or proposal;

A summary of the subject or plot of a literary work or play or movie;

A variable in a logical or mathematical expression whose value determines the dependent variable; if f(x)=y, x is the independent variable

This usually results in an error, unless default values are specified for the missing parameters.

Typically, no, but languages like Python allow it with variadic parameters (*args, **kwargs).

Typically, yes, unless the language supports named arguments or similar features.

Yes, providing an argument for a parameter with a default value will override the default.

No, parameters define what the function expects; arguments are the values provided to those parameters during a function call.

Default parameters allow a function to be called with fewer arguments, providing default values.

It depends on the argument's type and the programming language's model (pass-by-value vs. pass-by-reference).

They are passed as a single argument, even if they contain multiple elements or properties.

In dynamically typed languages, yes, but it may lead to runtime errors. Static types languages enforce type matching.

Yes, arguments are evaluated and their values are passed to the function's parameters.

Named arguments allow specifying which parameter an argument corresponds to, improving readability.

Overloading allows multiple function definitions with different parameters, chosen based on the arguments passed.

Yes, in many programming languages, functions can be passed as arguments, treating them as first-class citizens.

In many languages, yes, but positional arguments usually need to come before named arguments.

They allow a function to accept an arbitrary number of arguments, offering more flexibility.