Introduction to Programming

Functions
(BSCS 1350)
Dr. Ghadah Alghamdi
[email protected]

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Topics
• Introduction to Functions
• Defining and Calling a Void Function
• Designing a Program to Use Functions
• Local Variables
• Passing Arguments to Functions
• Global Variables and Global Constants
Topics (cont’d.)
• Introduction to Value-Returning Functions: Generating Random
Numbers
• Writing Your Own Value-Returning Functions
• The math Module
• Storing Functions in Modules
Introduction to Functions
• Function: group of statements within a program that perform a
specific task
• Usually one task of a large program
• Functions can be executed in order to perform overall program task
• Modularized program: program wherein each task within the program
is in its own function
Benefits of Modularizing a Program with
Functions
• The benefits of using functions include:
• Simpler code
• Code reuse
• write the code once and call it multiple times
• Better testing and debugging
• Can test and debug each function individually
• Faster development
• Easier facilitation of teamwork
• Different team members can write different functions
Void Functions and Value-Returning Functions
• A void function:
• Simply executes the statements it contains and then terminates.
• A value-returning function:
• Executes the statements it contains, and then it returns a value back to the
statement that called it.
• The input, int, and float functions are examples of value-returning functions.
Defining and Calling a Function
• Functions are given names
• Function naming rules:
• Cannot use keywords as a function name
• Cannot contain spaces
• First character must be a letter or underscore
• All other characters must be a letter, number or underscore
• Uppercase and lowercase characters are distinct
• Function names are case-sensitive
Defining and Calling a Function (cont’d.)
• Function name should be descriptive of the task carried out by the
function
• Often includes a verb. Examples: calculate_gross_pay, get_hours…
• Function definition: specifies what function does
def function_name():
statement
statement
Defining and Calling a Function (cont’d.)
• Function header: first line of function
– Includes keyword def and function name, followed by parentheses and colon
• Block: set of statements that belong together as a group
– Example: the statements included in a function
Defining and Calling a Function (cont’d.)
• Call a function to execute it
• When a function is called:
• Interpreter jumps to the function and executes statements in the block
• Interpreter jumps back to part of program that called the function
• Known as function return
Defining and Calling a Function (cont’d.)
•main function: called when the program starts
• Calls other functions when they are needed
• Defines the mainline logic of the program
Indentation in Python
• Each block must be indented
• Lines in block must begin with the same number of spaces
• Use tabs or spaces to indent lines in a block, but not both as this can confuse the Python
interpreter
• IDLE automatically indents the lines in a block
• Blank lines that appear in a block are ignored
Using the pass Keyword
• You can use the pass keyword to create empty functions
• The pass keyword is ignored by the Python interpreter
• This can be helpful when designing a program

def step1():
pass

def step2():
pass
Local Variables
• Local variable: variable that is assigned a value inside a function
• Belongs to the function in which it was created
• Only statements inside that function can access it, error will occur if another function
tries to access the variable
• Scope: the part of a program in which a variable may be accessed
• For local variable: function in which created
Local Variables (cont’d.)
• Local variable cannot be accessed by statements inside its function
which precede its creation
• Different functions may have local variables with the same name
• Each function does not see the other function’s local variables, so no
confusion
Passing Arguments to Functions
• Argument: piece of data that is sent into a function
• Function can use argument in calculations
• When calling the function, the argument is placed in parentheses following
the function name
Passing Arguments to Functions (cont’d.)
Passing Arguments to Functions (cont’d.)
• Parameter variable: variable that is assigned the value of an argument
when the function is called
• The parameter and the argument reference the same value
• General format:
• def function_name(parameter):
• Scope of a parameter: the function in which the parameter is used
Passing Arguments to Functions (cont’d.)
Passing Multiple Arguments
• Python allows writing a function that accepts multiple arguments
• Parameter list replaces single parameter
• Parameter list items separated by comma
• Arguments are passed by position to corresponding parameters
• First parameter receives value of first argument, second parameter receives
value of second argument, etc.
Passing Multiple Arguments (cont’d.)
Making Changes to Parameters
• Changes made to a parameter value within the function do not affect
the argument
• Known as pass by value
• Provides a way for unidirectional communication between one function and
another function
• Calling function can communicate with called function
Making Changes to Parameters (cont’d.)
Making Changes to Parameters (cont’d.)
• Figure 5-18
• The value variable passed to the change_me function
cannot be changed by it
Keyword Arguments
• Keyword argument: argument that specifies which parameter the
value should be passed to
• Position when calling function is irrelevant
• General Format:
• function_name(parameter=value)
• Possible to mix keyword and positional arguments when calling a
function
• Positional arguments must appear first
Keyword-Only Parameters
• In a function definition, you can require that all arguments be passed
as keyword arguments
• Write an asterisk, followed by a comma, at the beginning of the
function's parameter list
Keyword-Only Parameters
• Example:
def show_sum(*, a, b, c, d):
print(a + b + c + d)

• All the parameters appearing after the asterisk are keyword-only

parameters
• When the function is called, the keyword-only parameters will accept
only keyword arguments
Keyword-Only Parameters
• Example:
def show_sum(*, a, b, c, d):
print(a + b + c + d)

• This function call will work:

show_sum(a=10, b=20, c=30, d=40)

• But this one will not:

show_sum(10, b=20, c=30, d=40)
Keyword-Only Parameters
• The * can appear at any position in the parameter list, but only the
parameters that appear after it will become keyword-only parameters

def show_sum(a, b, *, c, d):

print(a + b + c + d)
• In this example, only the c and d parameters are keyword-only
parameters.
Positional-Only Parameters
• A positional-only parameter will accept only positional arguments
• To declare positional-only parameters, insert a forward-slash into the
parameter list
• All the parameters that appear before the forward-slash will be
positional-only parameters
Positional-Only Parameters
• Example:
def show_sum(a, b, c, d, /):
print(a + b + c + d)

• The a, b, c, and d parameters are positional-only

• These parameters will not accept keyword arguments
Positional-Only Parameters
• Example:
def show_sum(a, b, c, d, /):
print(a + b + c + d)

• This function call will work:

show_sum(10, 20, 30, 40)

• But this one will not:

show_sum(10, 20, 30, d=40)
Positional-Only Parameters
• The / can appear at any position in the parameter list, but only the
parameters that appear before it will become positional-only parameters
def show_sum(a, b, /, c, d):
print(a + b + c + d)
• In this example, only the a and b parameters are positional-only
parameters
• The c and d parameters can accept keyword arguments or positional
arguments
Positional-Only Parameters
• When you call a function in Python, you cannot pass a positional
argument after a keyword argument
def show_sum(a, b, /, c, d):
print(a + b + c + d)

• In this example, if you pass a keyword argument to c, you must also

pass a keyword argument to d
Thank you

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