Software II: Principles of

Programming Languages
Lecture 9 – Subprograms

Fundamentals of Subprograms
• Each subprogram has a single entry point
• The calling program is suspended during
execution of the called subprogram
• Control always returns to the caller when
the called subprogram’s execution
terminates
 Subprogram Definitions
• A subprogram definition describes the
interface to and the actions of the
subprogram abstraction
– In Python, function definitions are executable; in all
other languages, they are non-executable
– In Ruby, function definitions can appear either in or
outside of class definitions. If outside, they are methods
of Object. They can be called without an object, like a
function
– In Lua, all functions are anonymous

Basic Definitions
• A subprogram call is an explicit request that the
subprogram be executed
• A subprogram header is the first part of the
definition, including the name, the kind of
subprogram, and the formal parameters
• The parameter profile (aka signature) of a
subprogram is the number, order, and types of its
parameters
• The protocol is a subprogram’s parameter profile
and, if it is a function, its return type
 Basic Definitions (continued)
• Function declarations in C and C++ are often
called prototypes
• A subprogram declaration provides the protocol,
but not the body, of the subprogram
• A formal parameter is a dummy variable listed in
the subprogram header and used in the
subprogram
• An actual parameter represents a value or address
used in the subprogram call statement

Actual/Formal Parameter
Correspondence
• Positional
– The binding of actual parameters to formal
parameters is by position: the first actual
parameter is bound to the first formal parameter
and so forth
– Safe and effective
 Actual/Formal Parameter Correspondence

• Keyword
– The name of the formal parameter to which an
actual parameter is to be bound is specified
with the actual parameter
– Advantage: Parameters can appear in any order,
thereby avoiding parameter correspondence
errors
– Disadvantage: User must know the formal
parameter’s names

Formal Parameter Default Values

• In certain languages (e.g., C++, Python,
Ruby, Ada, PHP), formal parameters can
have default values (if no actual parameter
is passed)
• In C++, default parameters must appear last
because parameters are positionally
associated (no keyword parameters)
 Variable numbers of parameters
• C# methods can accept a variable number of parameters as
long as they are of the same type—the corresponding
formal parameter is an array preceded by params
• In Ruby, the actual parameters are sent as elements of a
hash literal and the corresponding formal parameter is
preceded by an asterisk.
• In Python, the actual is a list of values and the
corresponding formal parameter is a name with an asterisk
• In Lua, a variable number of parameters is represented as a
formal parameter with three periods; they are accessed
with a for statement or with a multiple assignment from
the three periods

Ruby Blocks
• Ruby includes a number of iterator
functions, which are often used to process
the elements of arrays
• Iterators are implemented with blocks,
which can also be defined by applications
• Blocks are attached methods calls; they can
have parameters (in vertical bars); they are
executed when the method executes a
yield statement
 Ruby Blocks – An Example
def fibonacci(last)
first, second = 1, 1
while first <= last
yield first
first, second = second, first + second
end
end

puts "Fibonacci numbers less than 100 are:"

fibonacci(100) {|num| print num, " "}
puts

Procedures and Functions

• There are two categories of subprograms:
– Procedures are collection of statements that
define parameterized computations
– Functions structurally resemble procedures but
are semantically modeled on mathematical
functions
• They are expected to produce no side effects
• In practice, some program functions will have side
effects
 Design Issues for Subprograms
• Are local variables static or dynamic?
• Can subprogram definitions appear in other
subprogram definitions?
• What parameter passing methods are
provided?
• Are parameter types checked?

Design Issues for Subprograms

(continued)

• If subprograms can be passed as parameters

and subprograms can be nested, what is the
referencing environment of a passed
subprogram?
• Can subprograms be overloaded?
• Can subprogram be generic?
• If the language allows nested subprograms,
are closures supported?
 Local Referencing Environments
• Local variables can be stack-dynamic
- Advantages
• Support for recursion
• Storage for locals is shared among some subprograms
– Disadvantages
• Allocation/de-allocation, initialization time
• Indirect addressing
• Subprograms cannot be history sensitive
• Local variables can be static
– Advantages and disadvantages are the opposite of those
for stack-dynamic local variables

Local Referencing Environments:

Examples
• In most contemporary languages, locals are stack
dynamic
• In C-based languages, locals are by default stack
dynamic, but can be declared static
• The methods of C++, Java, Python, and C# only
have stack dynamic locals
• In Lua, all implicitly declared variables are global;
local variables are declared with local and are
stack dynamic
 Semantic Models of Parameter
Passing
• In mode
• Out mode
• Inout mode

Models of Parameter Passing

 Conceptual Models of Transfer
• Physically move a value
• Move an access path to a value

Pass-by-Value (In Mode)

• The value of the actual parameter is used to initialize the
corresponding formal parameter
– Normally implemented by copying
– Can be implemented by transmitting an access path but
not recommended (enforcing write protection is not
easy)
– Disadvantages - (if by physical move): additional
storage is required (stored twice) and the actual move
can be costly (for large parameters)
– Disadvantages - (if by access path method): must
write-protect in the called subprogram and accesses
cost more (indirect addressing)
 Pass-by-Result (Out Mode)
• When a parameter is passed by result, no
value is transmitted to the subprogram; the
corresponding formal parameter acts as a
local variable; its value is transmitted to
caller’s actual parameter when control is
returned to the caller, by physical move
– Require extra storage location and copy
operation

Pass-by-Result (Out Mode) – Potential

Problems
• sub(p1, p1);
– whichever formal parameter is copied back will
represent the current value of p1
• sub(list[sub], sub);
– Compute address of list[sub] at the beginning
of the subprogram or end?
 Pass-by-Value-Result (inout Mode)

• A combination of pass-by-value and pass-

by-result
• Sometimes called pass-by-copy
• Formal parameters have local storage
• Disadvantages:
– Those of pass-by-result
– Those of pass-by-value

Pass-by-Reference (Inout Mode)

• Pass an access path
• Also called pass-by-sharing
• Advantage: Passing process is efficient (no
copying and no duplicated storage)
• Disadvantages
– Slower accesses (compared to pass-by-value) to
formal parameters
– Potentials for unwanted side effects (collisions)
– Unwanted aliases (access broadened)
fun(total, total); fun(list[i], list[j]; fun(list[i],
i);
 Pass-by-Name (Inout Mode)
• By textual substitution
• Formals are bound to an access method at the time
of the call, but actual binding to a value or address
takes place at the time of a reference or
assignment
• Allows flexibility in late binding
• Implementation requires that the referencing
environment of the caller is passed with the
parameter, so the actual parameter address can be
calculated

Implementing Parameter-Passing
Methods
• In most languages parameter
communication takes place thru the run-
time stack
• Pass-by-reference are the simplest to
implement; only an address is placed in the
stack
 Implementing Parameter-Passing Methods

• Function header: void sub(int a, int b, int c, int d)

• Function call in main: sub(w, x, y, z)
• (pass w by value, x by result, y by value-result, z by
reference)

Parameter Passing Methods of

Major Languages
• C
– Pass-by-value
– Pass-by-reference is achieved by using pointers as parameters
• C++
– A special pointer type called reference type for pass-by-reference
• Java
– All parameters are passed are passed by value
– Object parameters are passed by reference
• Ada
– Three semantics modes of parameter transmission: in, out, in
out; in is the default mode
– Formal parameters declared out can be assigned but not referenced; those
declared in can be referenced but not assigned; in out parameters can
be referenced and assigned
 Parameter Passing Methods of Major
Languages (C, C ++, Java)
• C
– Pass-by-value
– Pass-by-reference is achieved by using pointers as
parameters
• C++
– A special pointer type called reference type for pass-by-
reference
• Java
– All parameters are passed are passed by value
– Object parameters are passed by reference

Parameter Passing Methods of

Major Languages in Ada
• Three semantics modes of parameter transmission:
in, out, in out; in is the default mode
• Formal parameters declared out can be assigned
but not referenced; those declared in can be
referenced but not assigned; in out parameters
can be referenced and assigned
 Parameter Passing Methods of
Major Languages (Fortran, C#)
• Fortran 95+
- Parameters can be declared to be in, out, or
inout mode
• C#
– Default method: pass-by-value
– Pass-by-reference is specified by preceding
both a formal parameter and its actual
parameter with ref

Parameter Passing Methods of Major

Languages (PHP, Perl, and Python)
• PHP: very similar to C#, except that either the
actual or the formal parameter can specify ref
• Perl: all actual parameters are implicitly placed in
a predefined array named @_
• Python and Ruby use pass-by-assignment (all data
values are objects); the actual is assigned to the
formal
 Type Checking Parameters
• Considered very important for reliability
• FORTRAN 77 and original C: none
• Pascal, FORTRAN 90+, Java, and Ada: it is always
required
• ANSI C and C++: choice is made by the user
– Prototypes
• Relatively new languages Perl, JavaScript, and PHP do not
require type checking
• In Python and Ruby, variables do not have types (objects
do), so parameter type checking is not possible

Multidimensional Arrays as
Parameters
• If a multidimensional array is passed to a
subprogram and the subprogram is
separately compiled, the compiler needs to
know the declared size of that array to build
the storage mapping function
 Multidimensional Arrays as Parameters: C
and C++

• Programmer is required to include the

declared sizes of all but the first subscript in
the actual parameter
• Disallows writing flexible subprograms
• Solution: pass a pointer to the array and the
sizes of the dimensions as other parameters;
the user must include the storage mapping
function in terms of the size parameters

Multidimensional Arrays as Parameters: Ada

• Ada – not a problem

– Constrained arrays – size is part of the array’s
type
– Unconstrained arrays - declared size is part of
the object declaration
Multidimensional Arrays as Parameters: Fortran

• Formal parameters that are arrays have a

declaration after the header
– For single-dimension arrays, the subscript is
irrelevant
– For multidimensional arrays, the sizes are sent
as parameters and used in the declaration of the
formal parameter, so those variables are used in
the storage mapping function

Multidimensional Arrays as Parameters: Java

and C#

• Similar to Ada
• Arrays are objects; they are all single-
dimensioned, but the elements can be arrays
• Each array inherits a named constant (length
in Java, Length in C#) that is set to the length
of the array when the array object is created
Design Considerations for Parameter Passing

• Two important considerations

– Efficiency
– One-way or two-way data transfer
• But the above considerations are in conflict
– Good programming suggest limited access to
variables, which means one-way whenever
possible
– But pass-by-reference is more efficient to pass
structures of significant size

Design Issues for Functions

• Are side effects allowed?
• What types of return values are allowed?
 Are side effects allowed?
• Parameters should always be in-mode to
reduce side effect (like Ada)

What types of return values are

allowed?
• Most imperative languages restrict the return types
• C allows any type except arrays and functions
• C++ is like C but also allows user-defined types
• Ada subprograms can return any type (but Ada
subprograms are not types, so they cannot be returned)
• Java and C# methods can return any type (but because
methods are not types, they cannot be returned)
• Python and Ruby treat methods as first-class objects, so
they can be returned, as well as any other class
• Lua allows functions to return multiple values
User-Defined Overloaded Operators
• Operators can be overloaded in Ada, C++,
Python, and Ruby
• A Python example
def __add__ (self, second) :
return Complex(self.real + second.real,
self.imag + second.imag)
Use: To compute x + y, x.__add__(y)