IT Professional Curricula     Software Development Solution Area     Generic Languages     Intro to Python For Java/C++ Developers

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In Python, functions are essentially first-class citizens. They are objects in Python, just like other primitive and complex data types, and have a valuable purpose. In this course, you'll learn how to define and invoke functions in Python.
First, you'll define a function using the def keyword and specify input arguments and return values from functions. You'll then work with positional arguments and keyword arguments.
Next, you'll define functions with default values for arguments and a variable number of arguments. Along the way, you'll also examine how arguments can be pass-by-value or pass-by-reference.
Finally, you'll explore the characteristics of Python functions that make them first-class citizens.
When you're finished with this course, you'll have a solid grasp of the foundations of support for functions in Python and be able to use Python functions in your development work.

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Objectives

Python Development: Defining, Configuring, & Invoking Functions discover the key concepts covered in this course define and invoke functions pass values to functions via input arguments use the return keyword to return values from functions use the positional, keyword, and default arguments pass a variable number of positional arguments to a function pass a variable number of keyword arguments to a function execute Python scripts from the command line use local and global arguments pass arguments to functions by value and reference illustrate the characteristics of first-class functions store functions in variables and lists summarize the key concepts covered in this course