Callback function signatures.
Drupal's API sometimes uses callback functions to allow you to define how some type of processing happens. A callback is a function with a defined signature, which you define in a module. Then you pass the function name as a parameter to a Drupal API function or return it as part of a hook implementation return value, and your function is called at an appropriate time. For instance, when setting up batch processing you might need to provide a callback function for