Function Prototype for maximum

Member function maximum’s prototype (Fig. 6.2, line 16) indicates that the function returns an integer value, has the name maximum and requires three integer parameters to perform its task. The function’s first line (Fig. 6.3, line 60) matches the function prototype and indicates that the parameter names are x, y and z. When maximum is called (Fig. 6.3, line 56), the parameter x is initialized with the value of the argument grade1, the parameter y is initialized with the value of the argument grade2 and the parameter z is initialized with the value of the argument grade3. There must be one argument in the function call for each parameter (also called a formal parameter) in the function definition.

Notice that multiple parameters are specified in both the function prototype and the function header as a comma-separated list. The compiler refers to the function prototype to check that calls to maximum contain the correct number and types of arguments and that the types of the arguments are in the correct order. In addition, the compiler uses the prototype to ensure that the value returned by the function can be used correctly in the expression that called the function (e.g., a function call that returns void cannot be used as the right side of an assignment statement). Each argument must be consistent with the type of the corresponding parameter. For example, a parameter of type double can receive values like 7.35, 22 or –0.03456, but not a string like "hello". If the arguments passed to a function do not match the types specified in the function’s prototype, the compiler attempts to convert the arguments to those types. Section 6.4 discusses this conversion.