PYTHON DATA SCIENCE TOOLBOX I
User-defined
functions
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You’ll learn:
● Define functions without parameters
● Define functions with one parameter
● Define functions that return a value
● Later: multiple arguments, multiple return values
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Built-in functions
● str()
In [1]: x = str(5)
In [2]: print(x)
'5'
In [3]: print(type(x))
<class 'str'>
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Defining a function
In [1]: def square(): Function header
...: new_value = 4 ** 2
...: print(new_value) Function body
(Indented)
In [2]: square()
16
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Function parameters
In [1]: def square(value): parameter
...: new_value = value ** 2
...: print(new_value)
In [2]: square(4) argument
16
In [3]: square(5)
25
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Return values from functions
● Return a value from a function using return
In [1]: def square(value):
...: new_value = value ** 2
...: return new_value
In [12]: num = square(4)
In [13]: print(num)
16
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Docstrings
● Docstrings describe what your function does
● Serve as documentation for your function
● Placed in the immediate line a!er the function header
● In between triple double quotes """
In [1]: def square(value):
...: """Return the square of a value."""
...: new_value = value ** 2
...: return new_value
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Let’s practice!
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Multiple parameters
and return values
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Multiple function parameters
● Accept more than 1 parameter:
In [1]: def raise_to_power(value1, value2):
...: """Raise value1 to the power of value2."""
...: new_value = value1 ** value2
...: return new_value
● Call function: # of arguments = # of parameters
In [2]: result = raise_to_power(2, 3)
In [3]: print(result)
8
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A quick jump into tuples
● Make functions return multiple values: Tuples!
● Tuples:
● Like a list - can contain multiple values
● Immutable - can’t modify values!
● Constructed using parentheses ()
In [1]: even_nums = (2, 4, 6)
In [2]: print(type(even_nums))
<class 'tuple'>
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Unpacking tuples
● Unpack a tuple into several variables:
In [1]: even_nums = (2, 4, 6)
In [2]: a, b, c = even_nums
In [3]: print(a)
2
In [4]: print(b)
4
In [5]: print(c)
6
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Accessing tuple elements
● Access tuple elements like you do with lists:
In [1]: even_nums = (2, 4, 6)
In [2]: print(even_nums[1])
4
In [3]: second_num = even_nums[1]
In [4]: print(second_num)
4
● Uses zero-indexing
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Returning multiple values
raise.py
def raise_both(value1, value2):
"""Raise value1 to the power of value2
and vice versa."""
new_value1 = value1 ** value2
new_value2 = value2 ** value1
new_tuple = (new_value1, new_value2)
return new_tuple
In [1]: result = raise_both(2, 3)
In [2]: print(result)
(8, 9)
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Let’s practice!
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Bringing it all
together
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You’ve learned:
● How to write functions
● Accept multiple parameters
● Return multiple values
● Up next: Functions for analyzing Twi!er data
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Basic ingredients of a function
raise.py
def raise_both(value1, value2): Function header
"""Raise value1 to the power of value2
and vice versa."""
new_value1 = value1 ** value2
Function body
new_value2 = value2 ** value1
new_tuple = (new_value1, new_value2)
return new_tuple
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Let’s practice!
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Congratulations!
Python Data Science Toolbox I
Next chapters:
● Functions with default arguments
● Functions that accept an arbitrary number of parameters
● Nested functions
● Error-handling within functions
● More function use in data science!
PYTHON DATA SCIENCE TOOLBOX I
See you in the
next chapter!
