Scout's Honor: How Python Functions Earn Their Merit Badges and Save the Code Day!

Scout's honor, fellow programmers and tech enthusiasts! Today, we embark on a journey to explore the profound impact of Python functions on modern programming. As we delve into this essential building block of Python, we'll unravel the underlying mechanisms that power countless applications and systems in the digital landscape.

The structure of Python functions

1. 

   The def is the keyword used to define a function.

2. The function_name is the name of the function.

3. The parameters are the arguments that the function takes in.

4. The Function body: This is where you write the actual code that performs the task of the function. It includes the statements that are executed when the function is called.

5. statement1 and statement2 are the statements that the function executes.

6. The return value is the value that the function returns.

Example 1

Please proceed with the creation of the following Python function:

In this example, we have a function add_numbers that takes two parameters a and b, and returns their sum. We call the function with add_numbers(5, 5), passing 5 and 5 as arguments. The function calculates the sum and returns 10, which is stored in the variable sum_result. Finally, we print the result, which gives us 10 as the output.

Example 2

Let's utilize input functions as we have learned from the last two blog posts.

In this function, we have modified the add_numbers() function to prompt the user for input directly using input() inside the function. The input() function will wait for the user to enter the numbers and automatically convert the input to floating-point numbers using float(). Then, it calculates the sum of the two input numbers and returns the result.

The main part of the program simply calls the add_numbers() function to perform the addition and get the result. Finally, it displays the result using the print() function. When you run this program, it will ask you to enter two numbers, and then it will display the sum of those numbers as shown in the below image:

Example 3

In my perspective, utilizing the input function within the main function is a preferred approach. However, there might be situations where this practice is unnecessary, for example, in academic assignments. In such cases, let's examine alternative approaches to address the task at hand.

Let's break the above program into explainable bits.

1. def add_numbers(a, b):: This line defines a function named add_numbers. The function has two parameters, a and b, which means it takes two numbers as input.

2. result = a + b: Inside the function, the two input numbers a and b are added together, and the result is stored in a variable called result.

3. return result: This line indicates that the function should return the value stored in the result variable when it is called. The return statement is used to pass the computed value back to the caller of the function.

4. num1 = float(input("Enter the first number: ")): The input() function is used to prompt the user to enter a value, which is read as a string. The float() function then converts the string to a floating-point number, and the result is stored in the variable num1.

5. num2 = float(input("Enter the second number: ")): Similar to the previous step, this line prompts the user to enter another value, reads it as a string, converts it to a floating-point number, and stores it in the variable num2.

6. sum_result = add_numbers(num1, num2): The add_numbers() function is called with the values of num1 and num2 as arguments. These values are passed to the function, and the sum of the two numbers is calculated inside the function.

7. print("The sum of the two numbers is:", sum_result): Finally, the result of the addition, stored in the variable sum_result, is displayed using the print() function. The output will show the sum of the two numbers provided by the user.

Let's use the number 5 for num 1 and 5 for num 2. The total should be 10. Your output should look like the below image:

In conclusion, we have covered the topic of Python functions. In the upcoming article, we will explore the process of passing the result of a variable from one function to another.