In this manual, the term “argument” refers to the entity that is passed to a function. In some cases, it is modified by “actual” or “formal,” which mean the argument specified in the function call and the argument specified in the function header, respectively.
The term “variable” refers to a simple C-type data object. The term “object” refers to both C++ objects and variables; it is an inclusive term.
For more information on terminology used in this manual, see “Terms” in Chapter 2, on page 25.