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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-14T00:15:55+00:00

let’s consider a small method: int MyFunction(string foo, int bar) { … } and

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let’s consider a small method:

int MyFunction(string foo, int bar)
{
  ...
}

and some calls:

MyFunction("",0)
int x = MyFunction(foo1,bar1)

How would you explain this to a non-technical persons? Has anybody a nice metaphor?

I tried to explain method calling (or function application) several times, but I failed. Seems I can’t find the right words here.

Regards,
forki

UPDATE: It is important for me to explain how the parameters are passed / matched.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Think of the system as a teller at a desk. To call a function you fill in a form to ask the system to do something, hand it to the teller. They go off and do the work, then hand you back a piece of paper with the result written on it. Depending on what you want the system to do, you pick an appropriate form.

    The form for MyMethod says:

    MYMETHOD REQUISITION FORM:
String _______
int    _______

    This analogy can be extended in all kinds of ways. Wouldn’t it be handy if the form told you what the purpose of the String and int were? That’s where languages with named parameters come in.

    For OO, instead of having one desk for the whole system, each object is its own teller, you hand a form to them, and in order to get the job done, they hand a lot more forms back and forth between each other. Etc.

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