Working With Functions¶

Simple Functions¶

• The simplest function takes no parameters and returns nothing, e.g.

def sayHello():
    print(' ----- HELLO !!! ----- ')

where now every call to sayHello() will produce the same message format and if the code requires updates then there is only one place to change.

Function arguments¶

• More useful functions will accept one or multiple arguments and perform some action based upon their value(s). Arguments are specified within the braces after the function name,

def printSquare(n, verbose):
    if verbose == True:
        print( 'The square of ' + str(n) + ' is: ' + str(n*n))
    elif verbose == False:
        print(str(n*n))
    else:
        print('Invalid verbose argument passed')

printSquare(2, True)  # Produces long string
printSquare(3, False) # Produces short string
printSquare(3,5)      # Produces error message

Gives the output:

The square of 2 is: 4
9
Invalid verbose argument passed

where we have combined functions and control structures to do something more useful.

• In the above function calls we specified the parameters in order but Python allows argument names to be specified when calling so that the order does not matter, e.g.

printSquare(verbose = True, n = 2)  # produces the same as
                              # printSquare(2, True)

• Note that explicitly specifying an argument name forces all arguments that follow it to also have their name specified, e.g.

def foo(A, B, C, D, E):
    # ... Do something
    return

foo(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)      # Correct, no names given
foo(1, 2, 3, D=4, E=5)  # Correct as the first 3 get assigned to the first
                    # 3 of the function and then the last two are
                    # specified by name
foo(C=3, 1, 2, 4, 5)   # Incorrect and will fail as a name has been
                    # specified first but then Python doesn't know
                    # where to assign the rest

This kind of calling can be useful when there is a function with many arguments and some at the end have default values (see below). The one that the user wishes to pick out can simple be given by name

Default Arguments¶

• In some situations extra function parameters maybe required for extra functionality but a user may want a certain default value to be specified so that the majority of the time the function call can be executed without specifying the parameter,where the second argument is now optional and will be assigned the given value if the function is called without it.

def printSquare(n, verbose = False):

    if verbose == True:
        print( 'The square of ' + str(n) + ' is: ' + str(n*n))
    elif verbose == False:
        print(str(n*n))
    else:
        print('Invalid verbose argument passed')
    return

printSquare(2)                               # Produces short message
printSquare(2, verbose = True)  # Produces long message

Gives the output:

4
The square of 2 is: 4

Return Values¶

• Most functions take in arguments, perform some processing and then return a value to the caller. In Python this is achieved with the return statement.

def square(n):
    return n*n

two_squared = square(2)
# or print it as before
print(square(2))

Gives the output:

4

• Python also has the ability to return multiple values from a function call, something missing from many other languages. In this case the return values should be a comma-separated list of values and Python then constructs a tuple and returns this to the caller, e.g.

def square(x,y):
    return x*x, y*y

t = square(2,3)
print(t)
# Now access the tuple with usual operations

Gives the output:

(4, 9)

• An alternate syntax when dealing with multiple return values is to have Python “unwrap” the tuple into the variables directly by specifying the same number of variables on the left-hand side of the assignment as there are returned from the function, e.g.

def square(x,y):
    return x*x, y*y

xsq, ysq = square(2,3)
print(xsq)  # Prints 4
print(ysq)  # Prints 9
# Tuple has vanished!

Gives the output:

4
9

Category:Tested Examples