Practice Parameters in CS Thinking

Use these practice problems to test your method after reviewing the concept explanation and worked examples.

Quick Recap

Named values declared in a function definition that act as placeholders for the actual data (arguments) passed in when the function is called. Parameters allow the same function to operate on different data each time it is invoked.

The blanks you fill in when using a function. Like a form with fields.

Example 1

easy
What is the output of the following? FUNCTION greet(name): OUTPUT 'Hello, ' + name. greet('Alice'). greet('Bob').

Example 2

medium
FUNCTION calculateArea(length, width): RETURN length * width. What is calculateArea(5, 3)? What happens if you call calculateArea(5) with only one argument?

Example 3

medium
Write a function called power(base, exponent) that returns base raised to the exponent using a loop. Trace power(2, 4).

Example 4

hard
Explain the difference between passing by value and passing by reference. If FUNCTION double(x): x = x * 2 is called with SET a = 5. double(a), what is the value of a after the call in each case?