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By Lenin Mishra in python —

Functions in Python

Learn to define functions in Python and their use with examples.

Functions in Python

Topics Covered

  1. What are Python functions?
  2. Example of a function
  3. Calling a function
  4. Parameters in Functions
  5. Positional arguments vs Keyword arguments
  6. Default arguments
  7. Variable Length Argument
  8. Advantages of functions
  9. Problems to solve

What are Python functions?

Functions in Python are a group of statements that are meant to be run multiple times in a program. Functions allow you to pass parameters into them and based on that return you a result.

A function in Python is enclosed within a def block. The statements that go inside a function body are indented by 4 spaces or 1 tab.

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Function Syntax

def function_name(params):
    """
    Docstring
    """
    <body>
    return <something>
  1. def marks the start of a function.
  2. It is followed by a function_name to uniquely identify the function. The rules for writing function names are the same as writing identifiers.
  3. Within parenthesis, params or parameters are used to pass values to a function. They are optional.
  4. Colon (:) marks the end of the function header.
  5. Documentation string (docstring) to describe what the function does. It is optional.
  6. One or more valid python statements that make up the function body. Indented by 4 spaces.
  7. A return statement to return a value from the function. It is optional.

Example of a function

Below is a simple example of a function that adds 2 numbers.

Code

def addition(x, y):
    total = x+y
    return total

In this example, the function is taking in 2 parameters - x and y. It is storing the sum of x and y in a variable called total. It is then returning the total variable.

Calling a function

Once your function is defined, You can call the function by typing the function name and providing arguments to the parameters(if any). The value returned through the return statement becomes the result of the function call.

Code

def addition(x, y):
    total = x+y
    return total

result = addition(x=10, y=5)
print(result)

Output

15

Parameters in Functions

Let’s take a closer look at the parameters. Based on the above example, you can see that parameters x and y are receiving their respective arguments while calling the function.

Arguments are the values you pass into the parameters of your function.

The above example demonstrates the case of required arguments. If you try to call the addition function without those parameters, it will throw you a TypeError.

Code

def addition(x, y):
    total = x+y
    return total

result = addition()
print(result)

Output

TypeError: addition() missing 
2 required positional arguments: 'x' and 'y'

Positional arguments vs Keyword arguments

Read the above error message again.

TypeError: addition() missing 
2 required positional arguments: 'x' and 'y'

You might wonder, what are positional arguments?

Positional arguments are arguments that are called by their position in the function. Keyword arguments on the other hand are called by the name or the keyword of the parameter in your function.

Look at the below example.

Code

def addition(x, y):
    print("Value of x is:", x)
    print("Value of y is:", y)
    total = x+y
    return total

# Positional argument
result1 = addition(10, 5)

# Keyword argument
result2 = addition(x=10, y=5)

Output

Value of x is: 10
Value of y is: 5

Value of x is: 10
Value of y is: 5

The function addition has been called twice. In the first functional call, arguments are being passed as it is, without mentioning the keyword of the parameters. Python will automatically assume that argument 10 refers to parameter x and argument 5 refers to the parameter y. This is an example of a Positional argument.

In the second function call, the arguments are passed along with the keywords of the specific parameter. Here, you are explicitly telling Python that argument 10 refers to parameter x and argument 5 refers to parameter y. This is an example of a keyword argument.

Let’s now switch the position of the parameters

Code

def addition(x, y):
    print("Value of x is:", x)
    print("Value of y is:", y)
    total = x+y
    return total

# Positional argument
result1 = addition(5, 10)

# Keyword argument
result2 = addition(y=5, x=10)

Output

Value of x is: 5
Value of y is: 10

Value of x is: 10
Value of y is: 5

The output should give you an idea of how positional and keyword arguments work.

In the case of positional arguments, since we switched places of the arguments, Python believes x is 5 and y is 10.

However, with keyword arguments, since we are explicitly mentioning the parameter names, the values of the arguments are maintained.

In a way, this shows why using keyword arguments has an advantage over positional arguments.

Default arguments

Sometimes, you would want to fix the argument to a certain parameter, unless required otherwise. You can assign a default argument to any parameter in the function using the = operator.

Let’s look at the below example.

Code

def greetings(name, msg="Hello"):
    return msg+' '+name

greet = greetings(name="Pylenin")
print(greet)

Output

Hello Pylenin

The above example uses a default argument of Hello for the msg parameter. Unless you want to change it, you don’t have to pass in the argument for msg parameter in your function call. If you do pass an argument to this parameter, Python will override the default argument with the new argument passed.

Code

def greetings(name, msg="Hello"):
    return msg+' '+name

greet = greetings(name="Pylenin", msg="Namaste")
print(greet)

Output

Namaste Pylenin

Also remember, default arguments have to be the last thing in the list of parameters in the function. They should follow non-default arguments. Otherwise, they will throw an error.

Code

def greetings(msg="Hello", name):
    return msg+' '+name

greet = greetings(name="Pylenin", msg="Namaste")
print(greet)

Output

SyntaxError: non-default argument follows default argument

Variable-Length Argument

These are also known as Arbitrary arguments.

Sometimes, you are unsure of how many parameters you need to define in your function. For e.g., the addition function defined above can only add two numbers. What if you want to add more than 2 numbers? Would you be adding/removing parameters as your requirements keep changing? No!

For this purpose, you can use variable-length arguments. The parameter for using variable length arguments is defined by using a * in front of the parameter name.

Code

def addition(*x):
    print(x)

result = addition(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Output

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

You can now pass in any number of positional arguments and Python will treat all of them as a tuple. This way, you limit the number of parameter definitions within your function.

Code

def addition(*x):
    sum = 0
    for elem in x:
        sum += elem
    return sum


result = addition(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
print(result)

Output

15

In case you are using both a non-default argument and a variable-length argument in your function definition, make sure to pass in the non-default argument as a keyword argument. Else you will get unexpected results.

Code

def greetings(*name, msg):
    for people in name:
        msg+= people+","
    return msg

greet = greetings("Pylenin", "Ashish", "Shishir", msg="Hello ")
print(greet)

Output

Hello Pylenin,Ashish,Shishir,

Advantages of functions

  1. They maximize code reusability

    Rather than writing duplicate copies of your logic everywhere in your code, you can just store your logic within a function that can be called with ease.

  2. Minimizes code redundancies

    Using functions in your code keeps your code shorter. It, therefore, saves space and execution time and enhances readability.

  3. Functions are easily maintainable

    Let’s say your function holds an important business logic. If you want to make changes to the logic, you only have to modify that function. You don’t have to go through the entire code and exhaust yourself. This shows that functions are very easy to maintain.

  4. Enhances code clarity

    Functions allow users to split their codes into various pieces that have well-defined roles. This enhances the clarity of the program.

Problems

  1. Write a function to convert minutes into seconds.
  2. Write a Python function to return the remainder of 2 numbers passed as argument. Note - You should divide the bigger with the smaller number.
  3. Write a function such that it can accept a variable length of argument and print all argument values on different lines
  4. Create a function in such a way that it should accept an employee's name, and its salary and display both. If the salary is missing in the function call, it should show it as 9000.

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