Arguments in Functions and Methods
Explore the mechanics of passing arguments in Python functions and methods, including how mutable and immutable types behave. Understand principles that promote clean, side-effect free code by managing function parameters effectively. This lesson helps you grasp good software engineering practices tied to argument handling.
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In Python, functions can be defined to receive arguments in several different ways, and these arguments can also be provided by callers in multiple ways. There is also an industry-wide set of practices for defining interfaces in software engineering that closely relate to the definition of arguments in functions.
Let’s first explore the mechanics of arguments in Python functions and then review the general principles of software engineering that relate to good practices regarding this subject to finally relate both concepts.
How function arguments work in Python
First, let's review the particularities of how arguments are passed to functions in Python.
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