Benefits of Using Subprograms (Edexcel GCSE Computer Science)

Revision Note

Written by: James Woodhouse, Computer Science

Reviewed by: Lucy Kirkham, Head of STEM

Subprograms are an out of line block of code that may be called by simply writing their name in a program
Subprograms are given a unique name so they can be called anywhere in a program
There are many benefits to using Subprograms, these include
- Making bigger problems easier to break down (decompose) and code
- Allows team members to be able to work on different parts of a problem
- Makes the program easier to debug
- Makes programs more efficient as code is not duplicated
There are two main types of subprogram:
- Procedures - does not return a result
- Functions - returns one or more results to the calling code

Python code
`# Subprogram 1 - Procedure` `def Information() #define a subprogram named 'information'` `first_name = input("Enter a name")` `surname = input("Enter a name")` `# Subprogram 2 - Function` `def Tax(pay_per_hour, hours_worked) #define a subprogram that takes 2 parameters` `total = pay_per_hour * hours_worked` `net_pay = total * 0.8` `return net_pay` `#Main program starts here` `Information() #call subprogram 1` `print(Tax) #call subprogram 2`

Python code

# Subprogram 1 - Procedure

def Information() #define a subprogram named 'information'

first_name = input("Enter a name")

surname = input("Enter a name")

# Subprogram 2 - Function

def Tax(pay_per_hour, hours_worked) #define a subprogram that takes 2 parameters

total = pay_per_hour * hours_worked

net_pay = total * 0.8

return net_pay

#Main program starts here

Information() #call subprogram 1
print(Tax) #call subprogram 2

Last updated: 25 March 2024

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