Functions in Python

• Function is a collection of statements which is made to perform a

specific task.
• To Execute function, we have to call it in the program.
• Instead of writing a large program we can write small functions as a
specific part of program to accomplish the task.
• Once written a function can also be used in other programs as
library functions.
• Functions can be categorized in three types-
1. Built-in
2. Modules
3. User Defined

Built-in Functions
•These are the functions which are predefined in python we have to just call them
to use.

•Functions make any programming language efficient and provide a structure to

language.

•Python has many built-in functions which makes programming easy, fast and
efficient.

•They always reside in standard library and we need not to import any module to
use them.

1.Type Conversion Functions: These are the functions

which converts the values from one type to another-
1.int( ) – To convert the string into integer.
2.str( ) – To covert any value into string.
3.float( ) – To covert string into float.
2.Input Functions: This function is used to take input
from user in the form of string.

e.g. name=input(“Enter your name : “)

3.eval function: This function is used to evaluate the
value of a string.

e.g. x=eval(“45+10“)
print(x) # answer will be 55

4. min Function: This function returns the smallest value

among given list of values.
5. max Function: This function returns the biggest value among
given list of values.
6. abs Function: This function returns the absolute value of any
integer which is always positive.

7. type Function: This function is used to identify the type of

any value or variable.
8. len Function: This function returns the length of given string.
9. round Function: This function returns the rounded number
of given number up to given position.
10. range Function: If you want the series between two
numbers then you can use this function. This is good tool for FOR
Loop. Its syntax is -
range( start, stop, step)
This gives the series from START to STOP-1 and the interval between
two numbers of series will be STEP.
 Python Modules
•Module is a .py file which contains the definitions of functions and
variables.
•Module is a simple python file.
•When we divide a program into modules then each module contains
functions and variables. And each functions is made for a special
task.
•Once written code in modules can be used in other programs.
•When we make such functions which may be used in other
programs also then we write them in module.
•We can import those module in any program an we can use the
functions.

Python provides two ways to import a module -

•import statement: to import full module.

•from: To import all or selected functions from the module.

math Module
•math module contains following
functions–
–ceil(x) returns integer bigger than x or x integer.

–floor(x) returns integer smaller than x or x integer.

–pow(x, n) returns xn.

–sqrt(x) returns square root of x.

–log10(x) returns logarithm of x with base-10

–cos(x) returns cosine of x in radians.

–sin(x) returns sine of x in radians.

–tan(x) returns tangent of x in radians.

string Module
•We have already studied about string module in class
XI. Here are some other functions of string module.
– String.capitalize() Converts first character to Capital Letter
– String.find() Returns the Lowest Index of Substring
– String.index() Returns Index of Substring
– String.isalnum() Checks Alphanumeric Character
– String.isalpha() Checks if All Characters are Alphabets
– String.isdigit() Checks Digit Characters
– String.islower() Checks if all Alphabets in a String, are
Lowercase
– String.isupper() returns if all characters are uppercase
characters
– String.join() Returns a Concatenated String
– String.lower() returns lowercased string
– String.upper()returns uppercased string
– len()Returns Length of an Object
– ord()returns Unicode code point for Unicode character
– reversed()returns reversed iterator of a sequence
– slice()creates a slice object specified by range()

random Module
•When we require such numbers which are not known
earlier e.g. captcha or any type of serial numbers then
in this situation we need random numbers. And here
random module helps us. This contains following
functions-
•randrange (): This method always returns any integer between given
lower and upper limit to this method. default lower value is zero (0) and
upper value is one(1).

•random (): This generates floating value between 0 and 1. it does not
require any argument.

randint (): This method takes 2 parameters a,b in which

first one is lower and second is upper limit. This may
return any number between these two numbers including
both limits. This method is very useful for guessing
applications. uniform (): This method return any floating-
point number between two given numbers.
User-defined Functions
•These are the functions which are made by user as per the
requirement of the user.

•Function is a kind of collection of statements which are written

for a specific task.

•We can use them in any part of our program by calling them.

•def keyword is used to make user defined functions.

•We use following syntax with def keyword to prepare a user defined
function.

def Function_Name(List_Of_Parameters):
statements
 User-defined Functions without argument and without return
 User-defined Functions with argument and without return
 User-defined Functions with argument and with return value
 User-defined Functions with multiple return values
 User-defined Functions with multiple return values

 Parameters and Arguments in Functions
 When we write header of any function then the one or more
values given to its parenthesis ( ) are known as parameter.
 These are the values which are used by the function for any
specific task.
 While argument is the value passed at the time of calling a
function.
 In other words, the arguments are used to invoke a function.
 Formal parameters are said to be parameters and actual
parameters are said to be arguments.

 Types of Arguments
Python supports following types of arguments-
 1.Positional Arguments
 2.Default Arguments
 3.Keyword Arguments

1. Positional Arguments
•These are the arguments which are passed in correct positional
order in function.

•If we change the position of the arguments then the answer will be
changed.

2. Default Arguments
•These are the arguments through which we can provide default values to
the function.

•If we don’t pass any value to the function then it will take a pre defined
value.

3. Keyword Arguments
•If a function have many arguments and we want to change the sequence
of them then we have to use keyword arguments.
•Biggest benefit of keyword argument is that we need not to remember
the position of the argument.
•For this whenever we pass the values to the function then we pass the
values with the argument name.
Passing ARRAYS /LISTS to Function
•In python we use list as array. Well we have to import numpy
module to use array in python.

Scope of Variable
•Scope of variable means the part of program where the variable will
be visible. It means where we can use this variable.

•We can say that scope is the collection of variables and their values.

•Scope can of two types -

•Global (module)
–All those names which are assigned at top level in module or directly assigned in interpreter.
•Local (function)
–Those variables which are assigned within a loop of function.

Flow of Execution at the Time of

Function Call
•The execution of any program starts from the very first line and this
execution goes line by line.

•One statement is executed at a time.

•Function doesn’t change the flow of any program.

•Statements of function doesn’t start executing until it is called.

•When function is called then the control is jumped into the body of
function.

•Then all the statements of the function gets executed from top to bottom
one by one.

•And again the control returns to the place where it was called.

•And in this sequence the python program gets executed.

RECURSION. . .
•Recursion is one of the most powerful tools of the programming
language. When a function calls itself within its body then this is know as
recursion.
•There are two conditions to use recursion -
–There must be a terminating condition.
–There must be an if condition in recursive routine.
–Every recursive problem has a special feature its reversal in the order of
execution.
–As many times there is recursive call then every time a new memory is
allocated to the local variables of recursive function.
–During recursion each value is pushed in a stack.

Drawbacks of RECURSION
•It uses more storage as each values is pushed in to stack.

•If recursive call is not checked carefully then your computer may go out
of memory.

•It is less efficient in terms of time and speed.