def — Intermediate Examples

Defines a new function or method

EasyIntermediateAdvancedExpert

*args and **kwargs

Accepting variable numbers of arguments.

python
def flexible(*args, **kwargs):
    print(f"Positional: {args}")
    print(f"Keyword: {kwargs}")

flexible(1, 2, 3, name="Alice", age=30)

def apply(func, *args, **kwargs):
    print(f"Calling {func.__name__}")
    return func(*args, **kwargs)

result = apply(max, 3, 1, 4, 1, 5)
print(f"Result: {result}")

*args captures extra positional arguments as a tuple. **kwargs captures extra keyword arguments as a dict. Together they let you write wrapper functions.

Closures

Functions that capture variables from their enclosing scope.

python
def make_multiplier(factor):
    def multiply(x):
        return x * factor
    return multiply

double = make_multiplier(2)
triple = make_multiplier(3)

print(double(5))
print(triple(5))
print(double(triple(4)))
Expected Output
10
15
24

The inner function captures 'factor' from the enclosing scope. Each call to make_multiplier creates a new closure with its own captured value.

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