A Second Look at Functions:

  • A function is a chunk of code that can be called by name to perform a task. Functions often require arguments, that is, specific data values, to perform their tasks. Arguments are also known as parameters.
  • A function can also be thought of as a block of organized and reusable code that is used to perform a certain action.
    • Python has built-in predefined functions. For example, print is a function.
    • We can also define our own functions:
python
1wcuResidenceHalls = ["walker", "scott", "harrill"]
2
3def printWcuResidenceHallsTitleCase():
4    for wcuResidenceHall in wcuResidenceHalls:
5        wcuResidenceHallTitleCase = wcuResidenceHall.title()
6        print(wcuResidenceHallTitleCase)
7
8printWcuResidenceHallsTitleCase()
  • This is what a function looks like in Python. The first thing to note is the def keyword (line 3). This we use to indicate to Python that we are defining a function.
  • The function name is, printWcuResidenceHallsTitleCase (line 3). After that we open and close parentheses.
  • Finally, we add a colon at the end, and then start the function body.
    • This is the code that’s going to get executed (lines 4-6) when we call the function (line 8).

Calling the function as noted (in line 8) would output:

1Walker
2Scott
3Harrill