actual argument

In a function call, the value being passed by the calling routine as an argument to the programmer-defined function. This value must be of a compatible data type with the corresponding formal argument in the function definition. There are two methods for an actual argument to be passed to a function: pass-by-reference and pass-by-value.

See also argument, calling routine, data type conversion, formal argument, function call, pass-by-reference, pass-by-value, programmer-defined function.