Lab # 4

Sets and Functions

SETS:

A Python set is the collection of the unordered items. Each element in the set must be unique,
sets remove the duplicate elements. Sets are mutable which means we can modify it after its
creation.

Unlike other collections in Python, there is no index attached to the elements of the set, i.e., we
cannot directly access any element of the set by the index. However, we can print them all
together, or we can get the list of elements by looping through the set

The elements of a set are defined inside curly brackets and are separated by commas. For
example –
myset = {1, 2, 3, 4, "hello"}

Python Set Example

# Set Example
myset = {"hi", 2, "bye", "Hello World"}
print(myset)
Output:

Checking whether an item is in the set

We can check whether an item exists in Set or not using “in” operator as shown in the following
example. This returns the boolean value true or false. If the item is in the given set then it returns
true, else it returns false.

# Set Example
myset = {"hi", 2, "bye", "Hello World"}

# checking whether 2 is in myset

print(2 in myset)
# checking whether "hi" is in myset
print("hi" in myset)

# checking whether "BeginnersBook" is in myset

print("BeginnersBook" in myset)
Output:

Loop through the elements of a Set in Python

We can loop through the elements of a set in Python as shown in the following elements. As you
can see in the output that the elements will appear in random order each time you run the code.

# Set Example
myset = {"hi", 2, "bye", "Hello World"}

# loop through the elements of myset

for a in myset:
print(a)
Output:
Python – Add or remove item from a Set

We can add an item in a Set using add() function and we can remove an item from a set using
remove() function as shown in the following example.

# Set Example
myset = {"hi", 2, "bye", "Hello World"}
print("Original Set:", myset)

# adding an item
myset.add(99)
print("Set after adding 99:", myset)

# removing an item
myset.remove("bye")
print("Set after removing bye:", myset)
Output:

Set Methods

1. add(): This method adds an element to the Set.

2. remove(): This method removes a specified element from the Set
3. discard(): This method works same as remove() method, however it doesn’t raise an error
when the specified element doesn’t exist.
4. clear(): Removes all the elements from the set.
5. copy(): Returns a shallow copy of the set.
6. difference(): This method returns a new set which is a difference between two given sets.
7. difference_update(): Updates the calling set with the Set difference of two given sets.
8. intersection(): Returns a new set which contains the elements that are common to all the sets.
9. intersection_update(): Updates the calling set with the Set intersection of two given sets.
10. isdisjoint(): Checks whether two sets are disjoint or not. Two sets are disjoint if they have no
common elements.
11. issubset(): Checks whether a set is a subset of another given set.
12. pop(): Removes and returns a random element from the set.
13. union(): Returns a new set with the distinct elements of all the sets.
14. update(): Adds elements to a set from other passed iterable.
15. symmetric_difference(): Returns a new set which is a symmetric difference of two given sets.
16. symmetric_difference_update(): Updates the calling set with the symmetric difference of two
given sets.

Functions:
Functions are the most important aspect of an application. A function can be defined as the
organized block of reusable code, which can be called whenever required.
Python allows us to divide a large program into the basic building blocks known as a function.
The function contains the set of programming statements enclosed by {}. A function can be
called multiple times to provide reusability and modularity to the Python program.
Python provide us various inbuilt functions like range() or print(). Although, the user can create
its functions, which can be called user-defined functions.
There are mainly two types of functions.
o User-define functions - The user-defined functions are those define by the user to
perform the specific task.
o Built-in functions - The built-in functions are those functions that are pre-defined in
Python.
Advantage of Functions in Python
There are the following advantages of Python functions.
o Using functions, we can avoid rewriting the same logic/code again and again in a
program.
o We can call Python functions multiple times in a program and anywhere in a program.
o We can track a large Python program easily when it is divided into multiple functions.
o Reusability is the main achievement of Python functions.
o However, Function calling is always overhead in a Python program.

Creating a Function
Python provides the def keyword to define the function. The syntax of the define function is
given below.

Syntax:

def my_function(parameters):
function_block
return expression
Let's understand the syntax of functions definition.
 The def keyword, along with the function name is used to define the function.
 The identifier rule must follow the function name.
 A function accepts the parameter (argument), and they can be optional.
 The function block is started with the colon (:), and block statements must be at the same
indentation.
 The return statement is used to return the value. A function can have only one return

Function Calling

In Python, after the function is created, we can call it from another function. A function must be
defined before the function call; otherwise, the Python interpreter gives an error. To call the
function, use the function name followed by the parentheses.

Consider the following example of a simple example that prints the message "Hello World".

1. #function definition
2. def hello_world():
3. print("hello world")
4. # function calling
5. hello_world()

Output:

hello world

The return statement

The return statement is used at the end of the function and returns the result of the function. It
terminates the function execution and transfers the result where the function is called. The return
statement cannot be used outside of the function.

Syntax
1. return [expression_list]

It can contain the expression which gets evaluated and value is returned to the caller function. If
the return statement has no expression or does not exist itself in the function then it returns
the None object.

Consider the following example:

Example 1

1. # Defining function
2. def sum():
3. a = 10
4. b = 20
5. c = a+b
6. return c
7. # calling sum() function in print statement
8. print("The sum is:",sum())

Output:

The sum is: 30

In the above code, we have defined the function named sum, and it has a statement c =
a+b, which computes the given values, and the result is returned by the return statement to the
caller function.

Example 2 Creating function without return statement

1. # Defining function
2. def sum():
3. a = 10
4. b = 20
5. c = a+b
6. # calling sum() function in print statement
7. print(sum())

Output:

None

In the above code, we have defined the same function without the return statement as we can see
that the sum() function returned the None object to the caller function.

Arguments in function

The arguments are types of information which can be passed into the function. The arguments
are specified in the parentheses. We can pass any number of arguments, but they must be
separate them with a comma. Consider the following example, which contains a function that
accepts a string as the argument.
Example 1

1. #defining the function

2. def func (name):
3. print("Hi ",name)
4. #calling the function
5. func("XYZ")

Output:

Hi XYZ

Example 2

1. #Python function to calculate the sum of two variables

2. #defining the function
3. def sum (a,b):
4. return a+b;
5.
6. #taking values from the user
7. a = int(input("Enter a: "))
8. b = int(input("Enter b: "))
9.
10. #printing the sum of a and b
11. print("Sum = ",sum(a,b))

Output:

Enter a: 10
Enter b: 20
Sum = 30

Call by reference in Python

In Python, call by reference means passing the actual value as an argument in the function. All
the functions are called by reference, i.e., all the changes made to the reference inside the
function revert back to the original value referred by the reference.

Example 1 Passing Immutable Object (List)

1. #defining the function

2. def change_list(list1):
3. list1.append(20)
 4. list1.append(30)
5. print("list inside function = ",list1)
6.
7. #defining the list
8. list1 = [10,30,40,50]
9.
10. #calling the function
11. change_list(list1)
12. print("list outside function = ",list1)

Output:

list inside function = [10, 30, 40, 50, 20, 30]

list outside function = [10, 30, 40, 50, 20, 30]

Example 2 Passing Mutable Object (String)

1. #defining the function

2. def change_string (str):
3. str = str + " How are you "
4. print("printing the string inside function :",str)
5. string1 = "Hi I am there"
6. #calling the function
7. change_string(string1)
8. print("printing the string outside function :",string1)

Output:

printing the string inside function : Hi I am there How are you

printing the string outside function : Hi I am there

Types of arguments

There may be several types of arguments which can be passed at the time of function call.

1. Required arguments
2. Keyword arguments
3. Default arguments
4. Variable-length arguments
Required Arguments

Till now, we have learned about function calling in Python. However, we can provide the
arguments at the time of the function call. As far as the required arguments are concerned, these
are the arguments which are required to be passed at the time of function calling with the exact
match of their positions in the function call and function definition. If either of the arguments is
not provided in the function call, or the position of the arguments is changed, the Python
interpreter will show the error.

Consider the following example.

Example 1

1. def func(name):
2. message = "Hi "+name
3. return message
4. name = input("Enter the name:")
5. print(func(name))

Output:

Enter the name: John

Hi John

Example 2

1. #the function simple_interest accepts three arguments and returns the simple inte-rest acco
rdingly
2. def simple_interest(p,t,r):
3. return (p*t*r)/100
4. p = float(input("Enter the principle amount? "))
5. r = float(input("Enter the rate of interest? "))
6. t = float(input("Enter the time in years? "))
7. print("Simple Interest: ",simple_interest(p,r,t))

Output:

Enter the principle amount: 5000

Enter the rate of interest: 5
Enter the time in years: 3
Simple Interest: 750.0
Example 3

1. #the function calculate returns the sum of two arguments a and b

2. def calculate(a,b):
3. return a+b
4. calculate(10) # this causes an error as we are missing a required arguments b.

Output:

TypeError: calculate() missing 1 required positional argument: 'b'

Default Arguments

Python allows us to initialize the arguments at the function definition. If the value of any of the
arguments is not provided at the time of function call, then that argument can be initialized with
the value given in the definition even if the argument is not specified at the function call.

Example 1

1. def printme(name,age=22):
2. print("My name is",name,"and age is",age)
3. printme(name = "john")

Output:

My name is John and age is 22

Example 2

1. def printme(name,age=22):
2. print("My name is",name,"and age is",age)
3. printme(name = "john") #the variable age is not passed into the function however the defa
ult value of age is considered in the function
4. printme(age = 10,name="David") #the value of age is overwritten here, 10 will be printed
as age

Output:

My name is john and age is 22

My name is David and age is 10
Variable-length Arguments (*args)

In large projects, sometimes we may not know the number of arguments to be passed in advance.
In such cases, Python provides us the flexibility to offer the comma-separated values which are
internally treated as tuples at the function call. By using the variable-length arguments, we can
pass any number of arguments.

However, at the function definition, we define the variable-length argument using

the *args (star) as *<variable - name >.

Consider the following example.

Example

1. def printme(*names):
2. print("type of passed argument is ",type(names))
3. print("printing the passed arguments...")
4. for name in names:
5. print(name)
6. printme("john","David","smith","nick")

Output:

type of passed argument is <class 'tuple'>

printing the passed arguments...
john
David
smith
nick

In the above code, we passed *names as variable-length argument. We called the function and
passed values which are treated as tuple internally. The tuple is an iterable sequence the same as
the list. To print the given values, we iterated *arg names using for loop.

Keyword arguments (**kwargs)

Python allows us to call the function with the keyword arguments. This kind of function call will
enable us to pass the arguments in the random order.

The name of the arguments is treated as the keywords and matched in the function calling and
definition. If the same match is found, the values of the arguments are copied in the function
definition.
Consider the following example.

Example 1

1. #function func is called with the name and message as the keyword arguments
2. def func(name,message):
3. print("printing the message with",name,"and ",message)
4.
5. #name and message is copied with the values John and hello respectively
6. func(name = "John",message="hello")

Output:

printing the message with John and hello

Example 2 providing the values in different order at the calling

1. #The function simple_interest(p, t, r) is called with the keyword arguments the order of ar
guments doesn't matter in this case
2. def simple_interest(p,t,r):
3. return (p*t*r)/100
4. print("Simple Interest: ",simple_interest(t=10,r=10,p=1900))

Output:

Simple Interest: 1900.0

If we provide the different name of arguments at the time of function call, an error will be
thrown.

Consider the following example.

Example 3

1. #The function simple_interest(p, t, r) is called with the keyword arguments.

2. def simple_interest(p,t,r):
3. return (p*t*r)/100
4.
5. # doesn't find the exact match of the name of the arguments (keywords)
6. print("Simple Interest: ",simple_interest(time=10,rate=10,principle=1900))

Output:

TypeError: simple_interest() got an unexpected keyword argument 'time'

The Python allows us to provide the mix of the required arguments and keyword arguments at
the time of function call. However, the required argument must not be given after the keyword
argument, i.e., once the keyword argument is encountered in the function call, the following
arguments must also be the keyword arguments.

Consider the following example.

Example 4

1. def func(name1,message,name2):
2. print("printing the message with",name1,",",message,",and",name2)
3. #the first argument is not the keyword argument
4. func("John",message="hello",name2="David")

Output:

printing the message with John , hello ,and David

The following example will cause an error due to an in-proper mix of keyword and required
arguments being passed in the function call.

Example 5

1. def func(name1,message,name2):
2. print("printing the message with",name1,",",message,",and",name2)
3. func("John",message="hello","David")

Output:

SyntaxError: positional argument follows keyword argument

Python provides the facility to pass the multiple keyword arguments which can be represented
as **kwargs. It is similar as the *args but it stores the argument in the dictionary format.

This type of arguments is useful when we do not know the number of arguments in advance.

Consider the following example:

Example 6: Many arguments using Keyword argument

1. def food(**kwargs):
2. print(kwargs)
3. food(a="Apple")
4. food(fruits="Orange", Vagitables="Carrot")
Output:

{'a': 'Apple'}
{'fruits': 'Orange', 'Vagitables': 'Carrot'}

Scope of variables

The scopes of the variables depend upon the location where the variable is being declared. The
variable declared in one part of the program may not be accessible to the other parts.

In python, the variables are defined with the two types of scopes.

1. Global variables
2. Local variables

The variable defined outside any function is known to have a global scope, whereas the variable
defined inside a function is known to have a local scope.

Consider the following example.

Example 1 Local Variable

1. def print_message():
2. message = "hello !! I am going to print a message." # the variable message is local to th
e function itself
3. print(message)
4. print_message()
5. print(message) # this will cause an error since a local variable cannot be accessible here.

Output:

hello !! I am going to print a message.

File "/root/PycharmProjects/PythonTest/Test1.py", line 5, in
print(message)
NameError: name 'message' is not defined

Example 2 Global Variable

1. def calculate(*args):
2. sum=0
3. for arg in args:
4. sum = sum +arg
 5. print("The sum is",sum)
6. sum=0
7. calculate(10,20,30) #60 will be printed as the sum
8. print("Value of sum outside the function:",sum) # 0 will be printed Output:

Output:

The sum is 60
Value of sum outside the function: 0
Lab Tasks

1. Write a python program to create a set and to print it

2. Write a python program to create a set with 6 values and then remove one element from
the set
3. Write a python program to create union of two sets
4. Write a python program to check if one set is subset of another set or not
5. Write a python program to get input from user in Celsius and covert it to Fahrenheit using
function
6. Write a python function to check which number is greater out of two given numeric
inputs
7. Write a python function to print only even numbers from a list
8. Write a python program to get 2 numeric input from user, then print their addition,
multiplication, subtraction and division using python functions