What is the distinction between a parameter and an argument in programming?

The distinction between a parameter and an argument in programming is that a parameter is a variable in the function definition that acts as a placeholder for the value that will be provided when the function is called, while an argument is the actual value that gets passed to the function at that time. This means that when a function is defined, it specifies parameters that determine what inputs are expected, but those inputs are not supplied until the function is invoked, at which point the arguments are supplied.

For example, in a function definition like def add(a, b):, a and b are parameters. They define what inputs the function requires. When calling this function with add(2, 3), the values 2 and 3 are the arguments provided to the function, corresponding to parameters a and b. This distinction is integral to understanding how functions operate, enabling developers to write flexible code that can handle various inputs by differentiating between their specifications (parameters) and their actual values (arguments).