Functions

Anatomy of a function

Functions allow us to create reusable code and avoid copy and pasting.

A function in Python is defined with the def keyword, followed by the function names, zero or more arguments or named arguments contained in parenthesis (), and a colon : to indicate the start of the function.

The contents of the function then follow, indented after the function definition.

Then, an optional return statement can follow, if the function plans on passing data back to the caller.

The recipe for a function in Python:

  1. def: the def keyword, telling Python we're about to start a function definition
  2. a name for the function
  3.  ( : opening parenthesis
  4. (optional) the names of one or more arguments, separated with ,
  5. (optional) the names and values of one or more default arguments, separated with ( , ) note: we'll see these in the next section
  6.  ) closing parenthesis
  7.  : a colon

# A Basic Function that accepts no arguments and returns nothing.
def hello_world():
    print("Hello, World!")


# A Function that accepts two arguments, and returns a value
def add_numbers(x, y):
    return x + y

Tip

If you get the syntax for a function wrong, Python will throw a SyntaxError.

For example, trying to create a function without the colon : :

>>> def hello_world()
  File "<stdin>", line 1
    def hello_world()
                    ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

And trying to create a function without the parenthesis () :

>>> def hello_world:
  File "<stdin>", line 1
    def hello_world:
                   ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

Indentation

One of the most important aspects of functions is indentation. Remember, Python doesn't use curly braces to figure out what's inside a function like other languages you may have seen, such as JavaScript or Java.

Python knows what code is related to a function by how it's indented. Anything that's indented one level deep under the function declaration is part of the function, no matter how many spaces there are between lines.

If you're using the REPL, once you're done entering your function, you'll need to press enter an additional time, to mark the end of the function. You know you're done defining your function when you see the 3 input arrows >>> again.

Type the following code in your REPL. Note that the 3 dots ... indicate that those lines are indented in the REPL. If you type your code in a Python file, you won't see the ... dots.

>>> def hello(name):
...     print("Hello", name)
...

See an error?

Note: If you get an IndentationError, that means that you didn’t correctly indent your code after your function definition. Try typing your function into the REPL one more time.

# The error you'll see if you didn't indent your function correctly.
>>> def add_numbers(x, y):
... return x + y
File "<stdin>", line 2
    return x + y
        ^
IndentationError: expected an indented block


Function Contents

The recipe for function contents:

  1. indentation (press tab on your keyboard)
  2. one or more lines of indented code
  3. (optional) a return statement

return statement

Using a return statement, you can optionally pass data back to the caller of the function.

with no return statement

If a function doesn't have a return statement, it implicitly returns None

>>> def foo():
...     x = 5
...
>>> val = foo()
>>> type(val)
<type 'NoneType'>

with a return statement, but no value

If a function has a return statement, but no value, it also returns None. This is typically used to control the flow of a program.


>>> def foo():
...     x = 5
...     return
...
>>> val = foo()
>>> type(val)
<type 'NoneType'>

with a return statement and a value

To return a value from a function, just type it after the return statement. You can return anything from a Python function, including other functions! For today, we'll focus on simple and complex data types.

>>> def foo():
...     x = 5
...     return x
...
>>> val = foo()
>>> val
5

As we explore simple functions, our return statements will usually be at the end of the function, but that's not the only way they can be used. A function can have multiple return statements, and those return statements can be used to control the flow of the program.

Note: Because it's syntactically correct to have multiple return statements in a function, it's up to you to use them correctly. If you use a linter for your code files and you place additional code in a function after a return statement, the linter will give you a warning that the rest of your code is unreachable.


Calling Functions

With no arguments

Once you've defined a function, you can call it from your Python code as many times as you'd like.

To call a Python function, type in it's name, along with parenthesis, and any required arguments to the function. Let's try it now, with a function that doesn't require arguments.


>>> def hello_world():
...     print("Hello, World!")
...
>>> hello_world()
Hello, World!

With arguments

Let's try it again, this time with a function that does accept arguments.

Tip

Here, note that the function accepts names for the arguments. But, when we call the function, we're passing in values.

>>> def add_numbers(x, y):
...     return x + y
...
>>> add_numbers(3, 5)
8
>>>

Storing the returned value of a function.

Storing the returned value of a function is easy. All you need to do is assign it to a variable.

Let's try it now.


>>> def add_numbers(x, y):
...     return x + y
...
>>> new_number = add_numbers(3, 5)
>>> new_number
8

The variable new_number now contains the result of running our add_numbers function with our arguments 3 and 5.