Terminology

Prof Alvaro Hernandez · October 8th, 2011, 08:53 AM

Hi there,

IÂ´m a newbie (at the forum and at VBA), so here goes a, perhaps, silly question.

What's the difference between an "argument" and a "parameter", if any?

It seems to me the authors use both words as synonyms throughout the book.

However, it should be pointed out that on page XXV, they make an explicit distinction, to wit:

"The VBE provides users with much more help than was previously available. For example, as you write code, pop-ups appear with lists of appropriate methods and properties for objects, and arguments and parameter values for functions and methods."

Tks.

Al

Prof Alvaro Hernandez · October 8th, 2011, 09:01 AM

IÂ´ve just googled that question and found several explanations.

It looks like "parameter" refers to the logical structure of a procedure (and, perhaps, a method), and that "argument" refers to the value taken by a given "parameter".

Did I get it right?

Tks.

mtranchi · October 8th, 2011, 11:01 AM

they basically mean the same thing, at least virtually all the time.

different programming languages use different terminology. I'm a bit rusty with VBA terminology, but the two in question would be Subroutines and Functions.

here's a subroutine (that does nothing useful):

Code:

Sub AddTwoNumbers(Number1 As Integer, Number2 As Integer)

    Dim Result As Integer
    
    Result = Number1 + Number2

End Sub

i think, technically, you got it spot on, but in reality, they are used interchangeably. Number1 and Number2 are the parameters for the above subroutine. If you see "argument", just keep in mind that it's just "stuff" (integers, strings, the list can get really long) passed to a sub or function.

Don't worry too much about that "method signature" stuff you may have encountered in your google search. It will never come up in VBA, though being a professor, if you're curious, a method signature refers only to the return type and parameter types of a function/sub. For example:

Code:

Function Example(Words As String, SomeObject As WorksheetFunction, SomeRange As Range, SomeNumber As Long) As Boolean
    Example = True
End Function

the method signature of the above function would be:

String, WorksheetFunction, Range, Long as Boolean

method signatures have to do with concepts foreign to VBA such as overloading, delegates, anonymous types, and no, i'm not explaining those, lol.

i've learned a lot from people who have freely shared their knowledge online, in appreciation, i try to give back. So if you have other questions, post to this forum, it should be a while before you continuously stump me for answers.

good luck on your journey into the world of programming. :)

p.s. This response was written in camelCase, another term you may encounter if you end up outside the world of VBA. ;)

Prof Alvaro Hernandez · May 6th, 2012, 10:42 AM

Thanks. (Better late than never!)