Bek Brace

Posted on May 23, 2022

Does it bother you when programmers use the word "Arguments" and "Parameters" interchangeably ?

#discuss #career #webdev #watercooler

Top comments (37)

Ben Halpern • May 23 '22

I don't think I've ever been bothered by this, but sometimes a statement like this can trigger more awareness 😅.

I think I generally use the two words correctly, but I don't give it much thought and could easily have used them synonymously at times.

For anybody who doesn't know the difference:

- Function parameters are the names listed in the function's definition.
- Function arguments are the real values passed to the function.
- Parameters are initialized to the values of the arguments supplied.

Remember, it's okay to be annoyed — but don't be a jerk about it if you need to correct someone.

Bek Brace • May 23 '22 • Edited

I myself use them interchangeably although I know it's wrong :D, however I try to be very careful when I'm doing my YouTube tutorial videos, I try to be as accurate as I can.

Eljay-Adobe • May 23 '22 • Edited

In general, no.

If the discussion topic is important to talk distinctly about arguments (provided by the caller) and parameters (as expected by the function) then it's important to mind the Ps and Qs.

Mnemonic: parameters are like parking spots; arguments are like automobiles.

Bek Brace • May 24 '22

a very cool analogy :D

Etienne Burdet • May 24 '22

I'm in the same boat, 99% percent of the time, we know what we're talking about anyways and most sentences you can make will actually be true for both arguments and parameters.

Elliot Derhay • May 24 '22

I can get like that, although I try to keep it to myself and just use the correct terms when I'm talking about them. It's easy to forget this is just one of the many small things everyone needs to learn eventually, like literally every other concept and term.

FJones • May 23 '22

Not at all. Because it ultimately doesn't matter, unless we're talking about specifics of which side we're talking about.

Does it matter if you're working with arguments in the function, or passing parameters to the function? No. It matters when the distinction matters. It matters when discussing, f.e. pass-by-value in languages where non-scalars are implicitly passing references (and even then, does it really matter?).

Bek Brace • May 24 '22

totally true!

Adam Crockett 🌀 • May 23 '22

Is it params of a function signature and args for a function call? I write a lot of docs that's the only place it bothers me otherwise I don't mind

Bek Brace • May 23 '22

"params of a function signature and args for a function call" - Thanks Adam, I'll memorize that :D

Adam Crockett 🌀 • May 23 '22

I'm sure there's some way to make it more memorable 😜

Guilherme • May 24 '22

this thought always hits me when I say one of them, thinking if it should be the other one haha but thanks to this discussion, I've learned the correct definition.. Now maybe I won't get it wrong so much

Bek Brace • May 24 '22

Great ! And you're not alone with this problem hehe

Andrew Baisden • May 23 '22

Not really because I make the same mistake sometimes 😅

Bek Brace • May 23 '22

same here :D

lionel-rowe • May 24 '22

Is there ever a situation where there would be meaningful ambiguity between which one was meant? If not, why should it bother anyone?

Bek Brace • May 24 '22

I use both terms interchangeably, and i feel dumb sometimes for doing that :D but after a while, i found out that it's not important at all as long as the code is working!