Routines: An argument against the conventional approach to functions and procedures
Anthony G. Middleton · Software Practice and Experience · 1986
Abstract This paper discusses the concept of a ‘routine’, which embraces both the concepts of ‘function’ and ‘procedure’. Several related functions and procedures can be mechanically derived from the same routine. These functions and procedures are ‘variants’ of the routine. Variants of a routine are identified by specifying some subset of the capabilities of the routine. A routine can be regarded as a means of specifying several related functions and procedures ‘at one go’. Alternatively, a routine can be thought of as a collection of functions consorting together for the purposes of optimization.