Final answer:
To close a pipe end or socket, the function 'close()' is usually employed, while 'shutdown()' is used specifically for sockets to partially close a connection, signaling no further data transmission in one or both directions.
Step-by-step explanation:
The function used to close a pipe end or a socket depends on the context in which it is being used. The function close() is typically used to close both file descriptors and sockets in many operating systems and programming languages.
On the other hand, the shutdown() function is specific to sockets and allows for a partial close of a connection, where you can specify that you would like to cease either sending data, receiving data, or both. This is useful in network programming where you want to signal to the other side of the session that no more data will be sent or received, but you may still want to receive or send data until the current transmission is complete.
The options end() and terminate() are not standard functions for closing pipes or sockets in most programming environments.