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Call by Value & Reference

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51 views

Call by Value & Reference

Uploaded by

simrankaul04
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Call by value and Call by reference in C

There are two methods to pass the data into the function in C language, i.e., call by
value and call by reference.

Let's understand call by value and call by reference in c language one by one.

Call by value in C
o In call by value method, the value of the actual parameters is copied into the formal
parameters. In other words, we can say that the value of the variable is used in the
function call in the call by value method.
o In call by value method, we can not modify the value of the actual parameter by the
formal parameter.
o In call by value, different memory is allocated for actual and formal parameters since
the value of the actual parameter is copied into the formal parameter.
o The actual parameter is the argument which is used in the function call whereas
formal parameter is the argument which is used in the function definition.

Call by Value Example: Swapping the values of the two variables


1. #include <stdio.h>
2. void swap(int , int); //prototype of the function
3. int main()
4. {
5. int a = 10;
6. int b = 20;
7. printf("Before swapping the values in main a = %d, b = %d\n",a,b); // printing the value
of a and b in main
8. swap(a,b);
9. printf("After swapping values in main a = %d, b = %d\n",a,b); // The value of actual par
ameters do not change by changing the formal parameters in call by value, a = 10, b = 20
10. }
11. void swap (int a, int b)
12. {
13. int temp;
14. temp = a;
15. a=b;
16. b=temp;
17. printf("After swapping values in function a = %d, b = %d\n",a,b); // Formal parameters,
a = 20, b = 10
18. }

Output

Before swapping the values in main a = 10, b = 20


After swapping values in function a = 20, b = 10
After swapping values in main a = 10, b = 20

Call by reference in C
o In call by reference, the address of the variable is passed into the function call as the
actual parameter.
o The value of the actual parameters can be modified by changing the formal
parameters since the address of the actual parameters is passed.
o In call by reference, the memory allocation is similar for both formal parameters and
actual parameters. All the operations in the function are performed on the value
stored at the address of the actual parameters, and the modified value gets stored at
the same address.

Call by reference Example: Swapping the values of the two


variables

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. void swap(int *, int *); //prototype of the function
3. int main()
4. {
5. int a = 10;
6. int b = 20;
7. printf("Before swapping the values in main a = %d, b = %d\n",a,b); // printing the value
of a and b in main
8. swap(&a,&b);
9. printf("After swapping values in main a = %d, b = %d\n",a,b); // The values of actual par
ameters do change in call by reference, a = 10, b = 20
10. }
11. void swap (int *a, int *b)
12. {
13. int temp;
14. temp = *a;
15. *a=*b;
16. *b=temp;
17. printf("After swapping values in function a = %d, b = %d\n",*a,*b); // Formal parameter
s, a = 20, b = 10
18. }

Output

Before swapping the values in main a = 10, b = 20


After swapping values in function a = 20, b = 10
After swapping values in main a = 20, b = 10
Difference between call by value and call by
reference in c
No. Call by value Call by reference

1 A copy of the value is passed into the An address of value is passed into the function
function

2 Changes made inside the function is limited Changes made inside the function validate
to the function only. The values of the actual outside of the function also. The values of the
parameters do not change by changing the actual parameters do change by changing the
formal parameters. formal parameters.

3 Actual and formal arguments are created at Actual and formal arguments are created at
the different memory location the same memory location

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