As a programmer, you will find yourself reusing the same blocks of code over and over throughout your program. In times like these, you can turn to functions.
Also known as a method or procedure, a function is a named group of code statements that accomplish something together, a bit like a factory machine.
There are some great reasons to use functions in your code:
- A single line can make all that code fire off instead of a whole bunch of lines.
- You can build DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) code, reusing the code you already wrote.
- Functions help make your code flexible and modular, meaning you can group your code more easily by task.
In fact, every C++ program has at least one function. “Hold on,” you may be thinking, “I’ve written some C++ programs, but I haven’t written any functions yet!”
Well, as it happens, main() is a function that you’ve already used! And you’ll understand it a bit more as you learn how functions work.
Instructions
Take a look at the IT support conversations in main.cpp. There’s a lot of repeating code.
Compile and execute the code. It works, but we could make this code much shorter and cleaner with the help of a function…
