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Everything about Function prototype

Declaration of a function's name and type signature but not body

In computer programming, a function prototype is a declaration of a function that specifies the function's name and type signature, but omits the function body. While a function definition specifies how the function does what it does, a function prototype merely specifies its interface, i.e. what data types go in and come out of it. The term "function prototype" is particularly used in the context of the programming languages C and C++ where placing forward declarations of functions in header files allows for splitting a program into translation units, i.e. into parts that a compiler can separately translate into object files, to be combined by a linker into an executable or a library. The function declaration precedes the function definition, giving details of name, return type, and storage class along with other relevant attributes. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: Function prototypeA 5-minute orientation
  2. Skim a recent paper: Back in time to the Gly-rich prototype of the phosphate binding elementary functionInfluential work since 2022
  3. Pick up a classic book: Abstract datatypes in PVSThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  4. Read the landmark paper: Prototype abstraction and classification of new instances as a function of number of instances defining the prototype.Cited 98 times
  5. Go sideways: Type signatureA closely related topic
  6. Go sideways: Concepts (C++)A closely related topic

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🗂️ The subject at a glance

  1. Example
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🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

🆕 Influential since 2022

📚 Books worth reading

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

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