In programming, a declaration of a function to the compiler indicating what types of parameters are passed to it and what value is returned. The compiler can then report an error if a function within the program is not written to conform to the prototype. See function.
The following C example is the simplest prototype. The function displays "Hello World" on screen without receiving any parameters or returning any values to the calling instruction. "Void" means "nothing."
Prototype
void printHelloWorld(void);
Function
void printHelloWorld(void)
{
printf ("Hello World\n");
}
Prototypes can be much more complicated as in this C example where five parameters are passed to a graphics function.
void DrawTransparentBitmap(HDC hdc,
HBITMAP hBitmap,
int xStart,
int yStart,
COLORREF cTransparentColor);
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