WORKING WITH FUNCTIONS

USING PYTHON

MODULE 1/4

Mrs. SUJATA PRADHAN

PGT(SS)
AECS,ANUPURAM
 Definition OF Function

A program is a set of statements that takes some

input, does specific computations based on given input
and produces desired output. A very Large program with a
huge single list of instructions increases complexity.So
Python allows us to divide a large program into some
small independent units or blocks known as functions.
Decomposing a complex problem into simpler one using
functions improves clarity of the code.
Functions are the most important segments or
subprograms of an application used to perform specific
tasks. A python program can have one or more functions.
 The advantages of using functions

• Reduce duplication By using functions, we can avoid

of code. rewriting same logic/code again
and again, Thus function reduces
program size.

• Induce reusability of We can call python functions any

code. number of times from any part of
the program.So function induces
reusability in a program.
 Types of Functions:
Basically there are three types of functions used
in python program:
• Built in functions (python library functions)
– These are predefined functions and are always
available in python library.
• Functions defined within modules
– These are also predefined functions available in
different modules.
• User defined functions
– These are defined by programmer.
 1.Built- in Functions
• These functions are already built in the library of
python and can be accessed by programmer easily.
• These are always available and for using them, we
don't have to import any module (file).
• Python has a small set of built-in functions like
abs(), max(), min(), len(), range(),round(),bool()
chr(), float(), int(),long(),str( ),type( ),id( ) etc.
Example:
max( x, y, z) returns the largest of its 3 arguments.
>>>max(80, -70, 100)
100
2.Functions defined in modules
When we want to use module based functions in our program,
we need to import the corresponding module of that particular
function.
The functions available in math module are:
ceil(), floor(), fabs(), exp(), log(), pow(), sqrt() cos(), sin()etc.
Example:
ceil(x) returns the smallest integer not less than x
fabs(x) returns the absolute value of x,where x is a numeric value.
Example:
To work with the functions of math module, we must
import math module in our program.
sqrt() returns the square root of a number
>>>import math
>>>math.sqrt(49)
7.0
 User defined function
In Python, programmers can also develop their own function(s). They
are known as user defined functions.

Syntax of function
def function-name(parameters) :
#block of statement(s)

Example:
def hello_world(): #called function
print("hello world")

hello_world() #calling function

Output:
hello world
 Defining functions in python
def functionName( list of parameters ): Top level statements
"_docstring"
function_block • In python program, generally all
return [expression] python definitions are given at
Top level statements the top followed by statements
which are not part of any
functions These statements are
not indented at all.
def userfunction (arg1, arg2, arg3 ...):
program statement1 • The non indented statements
program statement2 written after all the function
definitions are often called top
program statement3 level statements .
....
return
userfunction(arg1,arg2,arg3)
 Function definition with example
• Keyword def marks the start of #python function to calculate the sum o
function header. f two variables
• A function name to uniquely identify
it. Name of the Function follows the #defining the function
same rule of naming the identifier. def sum(a,b):
• Parameters (arguments) through '‘’takes a and b and return the
which we pass values to a function sum'''
are optional.
• A colon (:) is used to mark the end of return a+b;
function header.
• The string after the function header #taking values from the user
is called the docstring . It is briefly a = int(input("Enter a: "))
used to explain what a function does. b = int(input("Enter b: "))
comments are ignored by python
interpreter but docstrings can be
viewed when the program is running. #printing the sum of a and b
• One or more python statements form print("Sum = ",sum(a,b))
function body.All the statements of
the block should have same Output:
indentation level. Enter a: 10
• A return statement is used to return Enter b: 20
value(s) from the function but it is
always optional. Sum = 30
 HOW A FUNCTION WORKS
• Execution always begins from the first statement of the
program.
• A python program may contain several funtion
definitions.
• If any function definition is found,python executes only
function header for the correctness of it and skips all
lines of function body(block).
• When python sequentially reaches top level statement’s
function call, python transfers control to the function
header and then execution of function body takes place.
• Finally function execution ends with a return statement
if any or the last statement of function body.
 FLOW OF EXECUTION IN A
FUNCTION CALL
• Flow of execution refers to the order in which
statements are executed.
• A function body is executed in execution frame.
• Whenever a function call statement is executed,
execution frame for the called function is created and
the control is transferred to invoke the called function.
• Within the function’s execution frame,the body of the
function gets executed and after the last statement of
the function the control returns to the statement
with/without any value(s) to the function from where it
is called(calling function).
 Function Parameters:
The values being passed through a function call statement are called arguments
or actual parameters.The values received in the function definition are called
parameters or formal parameters.

A function has two types of parameters:

• Formal Parameter(parameters): Formal parameters are written in the function
prototype(function definition). Formal parameters are local variables which are assigned
values from the arguments when the function is called.
• Actual Parameter(arguments): When a function is called, the values that are passed are
called actual parameters. At the time of the call, each actual parameter is assigned to the
corresponding formal parameter in the function definition.

Note:
1. Function which is called by another Function is called Called Function. The called
function contains the definition of the function and formal parameters are associated with
them.
2. The Function which calls another Function is called Calling Function and actual
paramaters are associated with them.
3. In python, a function must be defined before the function calling otherwise python
interpreter gives an error.
 Lambda function
Python lambda function doesn’t Example:
have any return statement.It has only
a single expression which is always add = lambda x, y : x + y
returned by default. The Python print(add(10, 20))
lambda function is anonymous as it is a
function without a def keyword and print("\nResult from a Function")
name. To create a Python lambda def add_func(x, y):
function, we have to use the lambda return x + y
keyword.
print(add_func(10, 20))
The basic syntax of python lambda is
Lambda arguments : expression
Both lambda function and regular
The Python lambda function accepts function returns the same result.
any number of arguments but use only However, the regular function needs a
one expression. def keyword, function name, and a
return value. Whereas, lambda function
For instance, lambda a, b: a + b. Here, a does not need any of them. By default, it
and b are the arguments accepted by the returns the expression result.
lambda function. a + b is the expression.
 Summary of Module 1

• What is a function
• How a function works
• Syntax of user defined function
• Calling function and called function
• Formal parameter and actual parameter
 SOLVED QUESTIONS
1. Differentiate between round () and floor() functions with suitable examples.
Ans. The function round() is used to convert a fractional number into whole as the nearest next whereas the
function floor() is used to convert the nearest lower whole number. e.g.,
round (4.1) = 5 and floor (6.9) = 6

2. Name the Python Library modules which need to be imported to invoke the
following functions:
(i) sin( ) (ii) randint ( )
1
Ans.
(i) math (ii) random

3. What will be the output of the following code?

a=1
def f():
a=10
print(a)
OUTPUT:
1

4. What is a lambda function? Explain with an example.

A lambda function is a small anonymous function which can take any number of arguments, but can only have
one expression.
E.g.
x = lambda a, b : a * b
print(x(5, 6))
OUTPUT:
30
 WORKSHEET 1
1. What is the significance of having function in a program?
2. Why are docstrings used? How are they different from comments?
3. How do we define a function?
4. What is lambda function?
5. What is the difference between formal parameter and actual parameter?
6. Write the syntax of function definition and explain with an example.
7. Write a program to generate fibonacci series with a function.
8. What is the importance of void function?
9. Differentiate between built in function and functions defined in module.
10. Rewrite the following Python function after removing all the syntactical errors (if any)
def checkval:
x = raw_input(“Enter a number”)
if x % 2 = 0 :
print x,”is even”
else if x<0 :
print x,”should be positive”
else ;
print x,”is odd”
11. Write a python program using function to find the largest element in a list.
def largest(L,n) :
max = L[0]
for i in range(1, n) :
if L[i] > max :
max =L[i]
return max
M = [10, 24, 45, 90, 98]
n = len(M)
max= largest(M, n)
print ("Largest in the given List is", max)
Output
Largest in the give n List is 98
THANK YOU