Types of Function According to Arguments and Return Value
Functions can be differentiated into 4 types according to the arguments passed and value returns these are:
- Function with arguments and return value
- Function with arguments and no return value
- Function with no arguments and with return value
- Function with no arguments and no return value
1. Function with arguments and return value
Syntax:
Function declaration : int function ( int );
Function call : function( x );
Function definition:
int function( int x )
{
statements;
return x;
}
Example:
C
// C code for function with arguments // and return value #include <stdio.h> #include <string.h> int function(int, int[]); int main() { int i, a = 20; int arr[5] = { 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 }; a = function(a, &arr[0]); printf("value of a is %d\n", a); for (i = 0; i < 5; i++) { printf("value of arr[%d] is %d\n", i, arr[i]); } return 0; } int function(int a, int* arr) { int i; a = a + 20; arr[0] = arr[0] + 50; arr[1] = arr[1] + 50; arr[2] = arr[2] + 50; arr[3] = arr[3] + 50; arr[4] = arr[4] + 50; return a; } |
value of a is 40 value of arr[0] is 60 value of arr[1] is 70 value of arr[2] is 80 value of arr[3] is 90 value of arr[4] is 100
2. Function with arguments but no return value
When a function has arguments, it receives any data from the calling function but it returns no values. These are void functions with no return values.
Syntax:
Function declaration : void function ( int );
Function call : function( x );
Function definition:
void function( int x )
{
statements;
}
Example:
C
// C code for function // with argument but no return value #include <stdio.h> void function(int, int[], char[]); int main() { int a = 20; int ar[5] = { 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 }; char str[30] = "w3wiki"; // function call function(a, &ar[0], &str[0]); return 0; } void function(int a, int* ar, char* str) { int i; printf("value of a is %d\n\n", a); for (i = 0; i < 5; i++) { printf("value of ar[%d] is %d\n", i, ar[i]); } printf("\nvalue of str is %s\n", str); } |
value of a is 20 value of ar[0] is 10 value of ar[1] is 20 value of ar[2] is 30 value of ar[3] is 40 value of ar[4] is 50 value of str is w3wiki
3. Function with no argument and no return value
When a function has no arguments, it does not receive any data from the calling function. Similarly, when it does not return a value, the calling function does not receive any data from the called function.
Syntax:
Function declaration : void function();
Function call : function();
Function definition :
void function()
{
statements;
}
Example:
C
// C code for function with no // arguments and no return value #include <stdio.h> void value(void); void main() { value(); } void value(void) { float year = 1, period = 5, amount = 5000, inrate = 0.12; float sum; sum = amount; while (year <= period) { sum = sum * (1 + inrate); year = year + 1; } printf(" The total amount is :%f", sum); } |
The total amount is :8811.708984
4. Function with no arguments but returns a value
There could be occasions where we may need to design functions that may not take any arguments but returns a value to the calling function. An example of this is getchar function which has no parameters but it returns an integer and integer-type data that represents a character.
Syntax:
Function declaration : int function();
Function call : function();
Function definition :
int function()
{
statements;
return x;
}
Example:
C
// C code for function with no arguments // but have return value #include <math.h> #include <stdio.h> int sum(); int main() { int num; num = sum(); printf("Sum of two given values = %d", num); return 0; } int sum() { int a = 50, b = 80, sum; sum = sqrt(a) + sqrt(b); return sum; } |
Sum of two given values = 16
C Function Arguments and Function Return Values
Prerequisite: Functions in C
A function in C can be called either with arguments or without arguments. These functions may or may not return values to the calling functions. All C functions can be called either with arguments or without arguments in a C program. Also, they may or may not return any values. Hence the function prototype of a function in C is as below:
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