4.7.

Defining Functions
We can create a function that writes the Fibonacci series to an arbitrary boundary:

>>>
>>> def fib(n): # write Fibonacci series up to n
... """Print a Fibonacci series up to n."""
... a, b = 0, 1
... while a < n:
... print(a, end=' ')
... a, b = b, a+b
... print()
...
>>> # Now call the function we just defined:
... fib(2000)
0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 610 987 1597

The keyword def introduces a function definition. It must be followed by the function name and
the parenthesized list of formal parameters. The statements that form the body of the function
start at the next line, and must be indented.

The first statement of the function body can optionally be a string literal; this string literal is the
function’s documentation string, or docstring. (More about docstrings can be found in the
section Documentation Strings.) There are tools which use docstrings to automatically produce
online or printed documentation, or to let the user interactively browse through code; it’s good
practice to include docstrings in code that you write, so make a habit of it.

The execution of a function introduces a new symbol table used for the local variables of the
function. More precisely, all variable assignments in a function store the value in the local
symbol table; whereas variable references first look in the local symbol table, then in the local
symbol tables of enclosing functions, then in the global symbol table, and finally in the table of
built-in names. Thus, global variables and variables of enclosing functions cannot be directly
assigned a value within a function (unless, for global variables, named in a global statement,
or, for variables of enclosing functions, named in a nonlocal statement), although they may be
referenced.

The actual parameters (arguments) to a function call are introduced in the local symbol table of
the called function when it is called; thus, arguments are passed using call by value (where
the value is always an object reference, not the value of the object). 1 When a function calls
another function, or calls itself recursively, a new local symbol table is created for that call.

A function definition associates the function name with the function object in the current symbol
table. The interpreter recognizes the object pointed to by that name as a user-defined function.
Other names can also point to that same function object and can also be used to access the
function:

>>>
>>> fib
<function fib at 10042ed0>
>>> f = fib
>>> f(100)
0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89

Coming from other languages, you might object that fib is not a function but a procedure since
it doesn’t return a value. In fact, even functions without a return statement do return a value,
albeit a rather boring one. This value is called None (it’s a built-in name). Writing the
value None is normally suppressed by the interpreter if it would be the only value written. You
can see it if you really want to using print():

>>>
>>> fib(0)
>>> print(fib(0))
None

It is simple to write a function that returns a list of the numbers of the Fibonacci series, instead of
printing it:

>>>
>>> def fib2(n): # return Fibonacci series up to n
... """Return a list containing the Fibonacci series up to n."""
... result = []
... a, b = 0, 1
... while a < n:
... result.append(a) # see below
... a, b = b, a+b
... return result
...
>>> f100 = fib2(100) # call it
>>> f100 # write the result
[0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89]

This example, as usual, demonstrates some new Python features:

• The return statement returns with a value from a function. return without an
expression argument returns None. Falling off the end of a function also returns None.
 • The statement result.append(a) calls a method of the list object result. A method
is a function that ‘belongs’ to an object and is named obj.methodname, where obj is
some object (this may be an expression), and methodname is the name of a method that
is defined by the object’s type. Different types define different methods. Methods of
different types may have the same name without causing ambiguity. (It is possible to
define your own object types and methods, using classes, see Classes) The
method append() shown in the example is defined for list objects; it adds a new
element at the end of the list. In this example it is equivalent
to result = result + [a], but more efficient.
4.8. More on Defining Functions
It is also possible to define functions with a variable number of arguments. There are three
forms, which can be combined.

4.8.1. Default Argument Values

The most useful form is to specify a default value for one or more arguments. This creates a
function that can be called with fewer arguments than it is defined to allow. For example:

def ask_ok(prompt, retries=4, reminder='Please try again!'):

while True:
ok = input(prompt)
if ok in ('y', 'ye', 'yes'):
return True
if ok in ('n', 'no', 'nop', 'nope'):
return False
retries = retries - 1
if retries < 0:
raise ValueError('invalid user response')
print(reminder)

This function can be called in several ways:

• giving only the mandatory argument: ask_ok('Do you really want to quit?')
• giving one of the optional
arguments: ask_ok('OK to overwrite the file?', 2)
• or even giving all
arguments: ask_ok('OK to overwrite the file?', 2, 'Come on, only y
es or no!')

This example also introduces the in keyword. This tests whether or not a sequence contains a
certain value.

The default values are evaluated at the point of function definition in the defining scope, so that
i = 5

def f(arg=i):
print(arg)

i = 6
f()

will print 5.

Important warning: The default value is evaluated only once. This makes a difference when the
default is a mutable object such as a list, dictionary, or instances of most classes. For example,
the following function accumulates the arguments passed to it on subsequent calls:

def f(a, L=[]):

L.append(a)
return L

print(f(1))
print(f(2))
print(f(3))

This will print

[1]
[1, 2]
[1, 2, 3]

If you don’t want the default to be shared between subsequent calls, you can write the function
like this instead:

def f(a, L=None):

if L is None:
L = []
L.append(a)
return L

4.8.2. Keyword Arguments

Functions can also be called using keyword arguments of the form kwarg=value. For instance,
the following function:
def parrot(voltage, state='a stiff', action='voom', type='Norwegian
Blue'):
print("-- This parrot wouldn't", action, end=' ')
print("if you put", voltage, "volts through it.")
print("-- Lovely plumage, the", type)
print("-- It's", state, "!")

accepts one required argument (voltage) and three optional arguments (state, action,
and type). This function can be called in any of the following ways:

parrot(1000) # 1 positional
argument
parrot(voltage=1000) # 1 keyword
argument
parrot(voltage=1000000, action='VOOOOOM') # 2 keyword
arguments
parrot(action='VOOOOOM', voltage=1000000) # 2 keyword
arguments
parrot('a million', 'bereft of life', 'jump') # 3 positional
arguments
parrot('a thousand', state='pushing up the daisies') # 1 positional,
1 keyword

but all the following calls would be invalid:

parrot() # required argument missing

parrot(voltage=5.0, 'dead') # non-keyword argument after a keyword
argument
parrot(110, voltage=220) # duplicate value for the same argument
parrot(actor='John Cleese') # unknown keyword argument

In a function call, keyword arguments must follow positional arguments. All the keyword
arguments passed must match one of the arguments accepted by the function (e.g. actor is not a
valid argument for the parrot function), and their order is not important. This also includes
non-optional arguments (e.g. parrot(voltage=1000) is valid too). No argument may receive
a value more than once. Here’s an example that fails due to this restriction:

>>>
>>> def function(a):
... pass
...
>>> function(0, a=0)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: function() got multiple values for argument 'a'

When a final formal parameter of the form **name is present, it receives a dictionary
(see Mapping Types — dict) containing all keyword arguments except for those corresponding
to a formal parameter. This may be combined with a formal parameter of the
form *name (described in the next subsection) which receives a tuple containing the positional
arguments beyond the formal parameter list. (*name must occur before **name.) For example,
if we define a function like this:

def cheeseshop(kind, *arguments, **keywords):

print("-- Do you have any", kind, "?")
print("-- I'm sorry, we're all out of", kind)
for arg in arguments:
print(arg)
print("-" * 40)
for kw in keywords:
print(kw, ":", keywords[kw])

It could be called like this:

cheeseshop("Limburger", "It's very runny, sir.",

"It's really very, VERY runny, sir.",
shopkeeper="Michael Palin",
client="John Cleese",
sketch="Cheese Shop Sketch")

and of course it would print:

-- Do you have any Limburger ?

-- I'm sorry, we're all out of Limburger
It's very runny, sir.
It's really very, VERY runny, sir.
----------------------------------------
shopkeeper : Michael Palin
client : John Cleese
sketch : Cheese Shop Sketch

Note that the order in which the keyword arguments are printed is guaranteed to match the order
in which they were provided in the function call.
4.8.3. Special parameters
By default, arguments may be passed to a Python function either by position or explicitly by
keyword. For readability and performance, it makes sense to restrict the way arguments can be
passed so that a developer need only look at the function definition to determine if items are
passed by position, by position or keyword, or by keyword.

A function definition may look like:

def f(pos1, pos2, /, pos_or_kwd, *, kwd1, kwd2):

----------- ---------- ----------
| | |
| Positional or keyword |
| - Keyword only
-- Positional only

where / and * are optional. If used, these symbols indicate the kind of parameter by how the
arguments may be passed to the function: positional-only, positional-or-keyword, and keyword-
only. Keyword parameters are also referred to as named parameters.

4.8.3.1. Positional-or-Keyword Arguments

If / and * are not present in the function definition, arguments may be passed to a function by
position or by keyword.

4.8.3.2. Positional-Only Parameters

Looking at this in a bit more detail, it is possible to mark certain parameters as positional-only.
If positional-only, the parameters’ order matters, and the parameters cannot be passed by
keyword. Positional-only parameters are placed before a / (forward-slash). The / is used to
logically separate the positional-only parameters from the rest of the parameters. If there is
no / in the function definition, there are no positional-only parameters.

Parameters following the / may be positional-or-keyword or keyword-only.

4.8.3.3. Keyword-Only Arguments

To mark parameters as keyword-only, indicating the parameters must be passed by keyword
argument, place an * in the arguments list just before the first keyword-only parameter.

4.8.3.4. Function Examples

Consider the following example function definitions paying close attention to the
markers / and *:
>>>
>>> def standard_arg(arg):
... print(arg)
...
>>> def pos_only_arg(arg, /):
... print(arg)
...
>>> def kwd_only_arg(*, arg):
... print(arg)
...
>>> def combined_example(pos_only, /, standard, *, kwd_only):
... print(pos_only, standard, kwd_only)

The first function definition, standard_arg, the most familiar form, places no restrictions on
the calling convention and arguments may be passed by position or keyword:

>>>
>>> standard_arg(2)
2

>>> standard_arg(arg=2)
2

The second function pos_only_arg is restricted to only use positional parameters as there is
a / in the function definition:

>>>
>>> pos_only_arg(1)
1

>>> pos_only_arg(arg=1)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: pos_only_arg() got some positional-only arguments passed
as keyword arguments: 'arg'

The third function kwd_only_args only allows keyword arguments as indicated by a * in the
function definition:

>>>
>>> kwd_only_arg(3)
Traceback (most recent call last):
 File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: kwd_only_arg() takes 0 positional arguments but 1 was
given

>>> kwd_only_arg(arg=3)
3

And the last uses all three calling conventions in the same function definition:

>>>
>>> combined_example(1, 2, 3)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: combined_example() takes 2 positional arguments but 3 were
given

>>> combined_example(1, 2, kwd_only=3)

1 2 3

>>> combined_example(1, standard=2, kwd_only=3)

1 2 3

>>> combined_example(pos_only=1, standard=2, kwd_only=3)

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: combined_example() got some positional-only arguments
passed as keyword arguments: 'pos_only'

Finally, consider this function definition which has a potential collision between the positional
argument name and **kwds which has name as a key:

def foo(name, **kwds):

return 'name' in kwds

There is no possible call that will make it return True as the keyword 'name' will always bind
to the first parameter. For example:

>>>
>>> foo(1, **{'name': 2})
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: foo() got multiple values for argument 'name'
>>>

But using / (positional only arguments), it is possible since it allows name as a positional
argument and 'name' as a key in the keyword arguments:

>>>
>>> def foo(name, /, **kwds):
... return 'name' in kwds
...
>>> foo(1, **{'name': 2})
True

In other words, the names of positional-only parameters can be used in **kwds without
ambiguity.

4.8.3.5. Recap
The use case will determine which parameters to use in the function definition:

def f(pos1, pos2, /, pos_or_kwd, *, kwd1, kwd2):

As guidance:

• Use positional-only if you want the name of the parameters to not be available to the
user. This is useful when parameter names have no real meaning, if you want to enforce
the order of the arguments when the function is called or if you need to take some
positional parameters and arbitrary keywords.
• Use keyword-only when names have meaning and the function definition is more
understandable by being explicit with names or you want to prevent users relying on the
position of the argument being passed.
• For an API, use positional-only to prevent breaking API changes if the parameter’s name
is modified in the future.
4.8.4. Arbitrary Argument Lists
Finally, the least frequently used option is to specify that a function can be called with an
arbitrary number of arguments. These arguments will be wrapped up in a tuple (see Tuples and
Sequences). Before the variable number of arguments, zero or more normal arguments may
occur.

def write_multiple_items(file, separator, *args):

file.write(separator.join(args))
Normally, these variadic arguments will be last in the list of formal parameters, because they
scoop up all remaining input arguments that are passed to the function. Any formal parameters
which occur after the *args parameter are ‘keyword-only’ arguments, meaning that they can
only be used as keywords rather than positional arguments.

>>>
>>> def concat(*args, sep="/"):
... return sep.join(args)
...
>>> concat("earth", "mars", "venus")
'earth/mars/venus'
>>> concat("earth", "mars", "venus", sep=".")
'earth.mars.venus'

4.8.5. Unpacking Argument Lists

The reverse situation occurs when the arguments are already in a list or tuple but need to be
unpacked for a function call requiring separate positional arguments. For instance, the built-
in range() function expects separate start and stop arguments. If they are not available
separately, write the function call with the *-operator to unpack the arguments out of a list or
tuple:

>>>
>>> list(range(3, 6)) # normal call with separate
arguments
[3, 4, 5]
>>> args = [3, 6]
>>> list(range(*args)) # call with arguments unpacked from
a list
[3, 4, 5]

In the same fashion, dictionaries can deliver keyword arguments with the **-operator:

>>>
>>> def parrot(voltage, state='a stiff', action='voom'):
... print("-- This parrot wouldn't", action, end=' ')
... print("if you put", voltage, "volts through it.", end=' ')
... print("E's", state, "!")
...
>>> d = {"voltage": "four million", "state": "bleedin' demised",
"action": "VOOM"}
>>> parrot(**d)
-- This parrot wouldn't VOOM if you put four million volts through
it. E's bleedin' demised !

4.8.6. Lambda Expressions

Small anonymous functions can be created with the lambda keyword. This function returns the
sum of its two arguments: lambda a, b: a+b. Lambda functions can be used wherever
function objects are required. They are syntactically restricted to a single expression.
Semantically, they are just syntactic sugar for a normal function definition. Like nested function
definitions, lambda functions can reference variables from the containing scope:

>>>
>>> def make_incrementor(n):
... return lambda x: x + n
...
>>> f = make_incrementor(42)
>>> f(0)
42
>>> f(1)
43

The above example uses a lambda expression to return a function. Another use is to pass a small
function as an argument:

>>>
>>> pairs = [(1, 'one'), (2, 'two'), (3, 'three'), (4, 'four')]
>>> pairs.sort(key=lambda pair: pair[1])
>>> pairs
[(4, 'four'), (1, 'one'), (3, 'three'), (2, 'two')]