Python Tutorial Series – Functions

In Python, functions are defined as follows:

def addTwoNumbers(a, b):
  return a + b

x = 3
y = 4
result = addTwoNumbers(x, y)
print(‘The sum of {} and {} is {}’.format(x, y, result))

Python also supports setting default values for the input parameters. Example:

def addTwoNumbers(a = 3, b = 2):
  return a + b

result = addTwoNumbers()
print(‘The result of addTwoNumbers() is: {}’.format(result))
result = addTwoNumbers(4)
print(‘The result  of addTwoNumbers(4) is: {}’.format(result))

Shorthand lambda functions are defined as follows:

result = lambda a, b : a + b
print(‘The result of lambda a, b is: {}’.format(result(3, 4)))

Functions with variable length parameters are defined as follows:

def addNumbers(*argv):
  result = 0
  for arg in argv: 
    result += arg
  return result

result = addNumbers(1, 2, 3)
print(‘The result of addNumbers(1, 2, 3) is: {}’.format(result))

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