12.2 The function-calling protocol

We have seen that Dylan has two kinds of function: methods and generic functions. Both can be called; from the caller's point of view, the two are called in the same way. When a generic function is called, Dylan selects one of its methods to execute, in a process called method dispatch. This section discusses the interaction between a function and that function's caller, focusing on arguments, parameters, value declarations, and returned values. We discuss interactions between generic functions and their methods but do not describe the process of method dispatch. For information on method dispatch, see Section 5.5, page 63; Section 6.2, page 79; Section 9.3, page 111; and Section 18.4, page 300.