Reasons for C++ Prototyping
<p>I'm a beginning programmer, trying to get a grasp on everything, so pardon the probably mundane theoretical question:</p>

<p>I see in a C++ tutorial that prototyping is needed to let the compiler know that a function(?) is coming up and not to throw up any errors.  Why does it not search throughout a document to find the function it's looking for?</p>

<p>Maybe the question I'm asking is; what is the purpose for prototyping?  And can it be used in other languages?</p>
