- published: 23 Sep 2014
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In computer programming, a subroutine is a sequence of program instructions that perform a specific task, packaged as a unit. This unit can then be used in programs wherever that particular task should be performed. Subprograms may be defined within programs, or separately in libraries that can be used by multiple programs. In different programming languages, a subroutine may be called a procedure, a function, a routine, a method, or a subprogram. The generic term callable unit is sometimes used.
As the name subprogram suggests, a subroutine behaves in much the same way as a computer program that is used as one step in a larger program or another subprogram. A subroutine is often coded so that it can be started (called) several times and from several places during one execution of the program, including from other subroutines, and then branch back (return) to the next instruction after the call once the subroutine's task is done. Maurice Wilkes, David Wheeler, and Stanley Gill are credited with the invention of this concept, which they termed a closed subroutine, contrasted with an open subroutine or macro.
In a moment of lucidity, you said to me: "Push this boat from shore. What I am now is past and with every passing moment I resemble myself less and less. Don't let this be living for me" In death, dignity.