Functions in Python—easy or hard to learn & master?

This week I’ll be looking at aspects of functions which can be tricky for those who know basics and want to move to next level. If you’ve learnt about functions in Python are keen to take the next step, then hopefully this series of toots will help…

Let’s start with the unexciting but important—terms

define
call
parameter
argument

Here’s the code we’ll use as an example which you can also get from the ALT text of the image in this toot:

def greet_person(person):
print(f"Hello {person}! How are you doing today?")

greet_person("Ishaan")
greet_person("Elizabeth")

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— Define —

You define the function when you use the def keyword

The first line of the definition is the function signature and the code after the colon is the code you want the function to perform…

However, this code does not run when you define a function

For this, we need to call the function…

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— Call —

You call a function when you use it

You’re calling a function when you write its name followed by parenthesis (the round brackets)…

The code in the function definition will run when you call a function

In the example above, you’re calling the function twice on the last two lines of the code

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— Parameter —

A parameter is the name you choose for information that’s needed by the function

You add parameters inside the brackets in the function signature which is the line which includes def

In this example, the parameter is person

This is the name of the “storage box” which is ready to hold any information you send into the function

However, when you define the function, this “box” is still empty…

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— Argument —

An argument is the actual information you send to a function when you call it

You called the function twice in the example above

The first time you called greet_person() you used the argument "Ishaan" and the second time "Elizabeth"

When you call the function, the information (the argument) is stored in a variable named person inside the function

Don’t worry too much if you confuse parameters and arguments. Many programmers confuse them, too!

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“What’s in a name?”, one might argue? And there’s a point. What matters most is knowing how to use concepts rather than knowing the precise definitions

Still, these terms are used everywhere-in documentation, in tutorials, when talking to other programmers

So, knowing the terminology is important. It shouldn’t be the first thing someone learns, but eventually, everyone should become familiar with the right terms for the right things

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Later this week, I’ll look at other aspects relating to that can confuse those beginners moving on to more intermediate levels, including:

positional and named arguments
optional arguments (by defining default values)
• the “obscure” args and kwargs
• forcing positional-only or keyword-only arguments using the “rogue” forward slash / and asterisk * in the function signature
type-hinting when defining functions
• some best practices when defining and using functions

Some of these topics I’ve written about a while ago in this Real Python article: realpython.com/python-optional

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