Fundamentals of

Programming
W4 - Functions

Nguyen Toan Van, PhD ([email protected])

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● Best way to develop and maintain a large program is to
construct it from smaller, more manageable pieces →
divide and conquer.
● Using existing functions as building blocks for creating
new programs is a key aspect of software reusability
○ Allows to execute function from various locations in program just by
calling the function, rather than duplicating the possibly lengthy code
○ Makes programs easier to modify

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Defining Functions first line in a function’s block
should be a docstring that
briefly explains the function’s
def keyword, followed by the parentheses contain the
purpose
function name (square) function’s parameter list

1. returns control to its

caller
2. gives the result back
to the caller

# 1- Perform a task
# 2- Return a value 3
return

There are two other ways to return control from a function to

its caller:
● Executing a return statement without an expression
terminates the function and implicitly returns the value
None to the caller.
■ None represents the absence of a value.
■ None evaluates to False in conditions.
● NO return statement in a function → implicitly returns the
value None after executing the last statement in the
function’s block.

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What Happens When You Call a Function
1. The expression square(7) passes the argument 7 to
square’s parameter number.
2. Then square calculates number ** 2 and returns the result.
a. The parameter number
■ exists only during the function call
■ created on each call to the function to receive the argument value
■ destroyed when the function returns its result to the caller.

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Function’s parameters and variables

● A function’s parameters and variables defined in a

function’s block → all local variables
● Can be used only inside the function and exist only while
the function is executing
○ Trying to access a local variable outside its function’s block causes a
NameError, indicating that the variable is not defined.

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Accessing a Function’s Docstring via
IPython’s Help Mechanism

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Functions with Multiple Parameters

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Python’s Built-In max and min Functions

Using built-in functions or functions from the Python Standard Library’s modules
→ can reduce development time
→ and increase program reliability, portability and performance.
For a list of Python’s built-in functions and modules, see
https://docs.python.org/3/library/index.html

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Random-Number Generation

random integers in the

range 1–6

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 fig04_01.py

underscore (_) digit

separator

Roll a six-
sided die
6,000,000
times

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Seeding the Random-Number Generator for
Reproducibility
module’s seed function
to seed the random-
number generator
yourself—this forces
randrange to begin
calculating its
pseudorandom number
sequence from the seed
you specify

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Case Study: A Game of Chance

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 ● Returning multiple
values via a Tuple
● Tuple is an
immutable (that is,
unmodifiable)
sequences of values
● Parentheses are
optional, but we
recommend using
them for clarity

number of variables to the left of = must

match the number of elements in the
tuple; otherwise, a ValueError occurs

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● The in operator tests
whether the tuple (7, 11)
contains
sum_of_dice’s value

● not in operator to
determine whether a
value is not in an
iterable.

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Python Standard Library

● A module is a file that groups related functions, data and

classes.
○ every Python source-code (.py) file you create is a module
● A package groups related modules.

A complete list of the standard library modules at

https://docs.python.org/3/library/

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17
math Module Functions

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https://docs.python.org/3/library/math.html

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Using IPython Tab Completion for Discovery

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Default Parameter Values

use both default params

use the second default

param

not use the default

params

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Arbitrary Argument Lists

can receive any number

of arguments

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Passing an Iterable’s Individual Elements as
Function Arguments

* operator, when applied to an iterable argument in a

function call, unpacks its elements

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Methods: Functions That Belong to Objects

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Scope Rules

Each identifier has a scope that determines where you can

use it in your program.
● Local Scope
■ A local variable can be used only inside the function that defines it
● Global Scope
■ Identifiers defined outside any function (or class) have global scope—
these may include functions, variables and classes.

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Accessing a Global Variable from a Function

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by default, you cannot modify
a global variable in a
function—when you first
assign a value to a variable in
a function’s block, Python
creates a new local variable

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use global statement to
declare the variable is
defined in global scope

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Blocks vs. Suites

● Function blocks and control statement suites

● Variable’s scope depends on where the control statement
is defined:
■ If the control statement is in the global scope, then any variables
defined in the control statement have global scope.
■ If the control statement is in a function’s block, then any variables
defined in the control statement have local scope.

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Shadowing Functions

shadows the built-in function

sum

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import: A Deeper Look

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Caution: Avoid Wildcard Imports

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Binding Names for Modules and Module
Identifiers

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Passing Arguments to Functions: A
Deeper Look
In many programming languages, there are two ways to pass arguments—pass-by-value
and pass-by-reference (sometimes called call-by-value and call-by-reference,
respectively):
● With pass-by-value, the called function receives a copy of the argument’s value and
works exclusively with that copy. Changes to the function’s copy do not affect the
original variable’s value in the caller.
● With pass-by-reference, the called function can access the argument’s value in the
caller directly and modify the value if it’s mutable.

→ Python arguments are always passed by reference.

When a function call provides an argument, Python copies the argument object’s
reference—not the object itself—into the corresponding parameter

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Memory Addresses, References and
“Pointers”
● Interact with an object via a reference → object’s address
(or location) in the computer’s memory—sometimes called
a “pointer” in other languages

x contains reference to the object

containing the value 7 x “points to” (that is, references)
the object containing 7

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Built-In Function id and Object Identities

● No two separate objects can reside at the same address

in memory → every object in memory has a unique
address.

● The integer result of calling id is known as the object’s

identity.
● No two objects in memory can have the same identity.

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Passing an Object to a Function

the same as that displayed for x previously

=> both the argument x and the parameter

number refer to the same object while cube
executes

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Testing Object Identities with the is
Operator

is operator returns True if its two operands have

the same identity

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Immutable Objects as Arguments
immutable (unmodifiable) object—such as an int, float, string or tuple
→ cannot modify the original immutable object’s value

original object, it will

be garbage collected
creates a new object
containing the cubed
value 39
Functional-Style Programming

Python is not a purely functional language. It offers “functional-style”

features that help you write code which is less likely to contain errors,
more concise and easier to read, debug and modify.

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What vs. How

● Functional-style programming lets you simply say what

you want to do. It hides many details of how to perform
each task.
● external iteration vs internal iteration
● Functional-style programming emphasizes immutability →
avoids operations that modify variables’ values
● Stating what you want done rather than programming
how to do it is known as declarative programming.

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Pure Functions

● A pure function’s result depends only on the argument(s)

you pass to it
● Does not have side effects → even if you pass a mutable
list to a pure function, the list will contain the same values
before and after the function call

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Intro to Data Science: Measures of Dispersion

● When talking about a group, the entire group is called the

population
● Selected small subsets of the population known as
samples
● Measures of dispersion (also called measures of
variability) → understand how spread out the values are

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Using the following population of 10 six-sided die rolls:

population variance = Squaring the difference between each die value and the mean of all
die values
standard deviation = the square root of the variance

Closer the data values are to the mean and the less overall dispersion (that is, spread)
there is between the values and the mean.

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