Functions¶
Definitions¶
The creation of functions is achieved with the def keyword.
Compulsory arguments are put at the beginning of the function definition. The order matters.
Optional arguments are put at the end of the function definition, along with their default values (defined by an = statement). The order does not matter here.
Output values are specified using the return function. Several variables can be returned (will be returned as tuple).
import numpy as np
def myfunc(arg1, arg2, arg3=0, arg4=-1):
print('args = ', arg1, arg2, arg3, arg4)
output = arg1 + arg2 + arg3 * (arg1 + arg2) \
+ arg4*(arg1 - arg2)
return output, np.power(output, 2) # returs a 2 elemt. tuple
x1, x2 = myfunc(1, 2)
x1, x2
args = 1 2 0 -1
(4, 16)
x1, x2 = myfunc(1, 2, arg4=1)
x1, x2
args = 1 2 0 1
(2, 4)
x1, x2 = myfunc(1, 2, arg3=1)
x1, x2
args = 1 2 1 -1
(7, 49)
x1, x2 = myfunc(1, 2, arg3=1, arg4=1)
x1, x2
args = 1 2 1 1
(5, 25)
x = myfunc(1, 2, arg3=1, arg4=1) # output returned as a tuple
x
args = 1 2 1 1
(5, 25)
Arguments as reference or values¶
Function arguments that are immutable (int,
float, etc.) are provided as values, i.e. a local copy is made in
the function. The argument value is not changed after function return.
Function arguments that are mutable (list,
array, dict, etc.) are provided as references, i.e. memory addresses. They can
therefore be modified from within the function. The argument value may change after function call.
For instance, let’s define a function that adds a y variable to a x variable:
def update(x, y):
x += y
Let’s apply the method on an immutable type, for instance an int:
x = 1
update(x, 10)
print(x)
1
In this case, the x value is the same as before. This is because for imutable types, the += statement ultimately creates a new instance (in this case, it is equivalent to x = x + y). Same thing holds for a string argument:
x = 'string arg'
update(x, ' final string')
print(x)
string arg
Now, let’s try to use the function on a mutable type. If we convert the above strings into lists:
x = list('string arg')
update(x, list(' final string'))
print(x)
['s', 't', 'r', 'i', 'n', 'g', ' ', 'a', 'r', 'g', ' ', 'f', 'i', 'n', 'a', 'l', ' ', 's', 't', 'r', 'i', 'n', 'g']
In this example, after the function call, the value of x is changed. Same holds for arrays:
x = np.array([1, 2, 3])
update(x, 2) # x has been updated in the function
print(x)
[3 4 5]
Therefore, when modifying a variable argument inside a function, be carefull.
Scope of variables¶
All the variables assigned within the function (arguments included) are local variables. When leaving the function, the variables are removed.
x = np.arange(5)
print('x before ', x)
def function(x):
print('x begin func ', x)
x += 5
z = x + 10
print('x end func', x, 'z', z)
function(np.arange(5, 10))
print('x after ', x)
#print(z) # causes an error: z undefined
x before [0 1 2 3 4]
x begin func [5 6 7 8 9]
x end func [10 11 12 13 14] z [20 21 22 23 24]
x after [0 1 2 3 4]
In the above example, the first print in the function shows the values of the array provided in the function call (np.arange(5, 10)). The x variable defined above cannot be accessed anymore because overwritten by the local one. When the function ends, the local x is destroyed, and the firstly defined x is shown by the last print. z is only accessible from inside the function.
Global variables, defined outside of a function, can be accessed from inside a function if they are note overwritten by local ones. But they are accessed in read-only mode only!
# by default, global variable
y = 20
def function2():
print(y)
function2()
20
To overwrite the value of a global variable from inside a function, it must be declared as global:
z = 30
x = 10
def function3():
global z
z = z + 10
#x = x + 5 # will crash because x not declared global
function3()
z, x
(40, 10)
In the above example, we can assign a value to the z variable although it is not a function argument, because it is declared global. However, the same thing on x will fail.
Functions: the *args argument¶
When the number of arguments is variable, you can use the *args argument in the function definition. It allows to define any number of additional arguments, which will be provided as a list.
def function2(x, y, *args):
print('x = ', x)
print('y = ', y)
print('args = ', args)
function2(3, 'toto')
x = 3
y = toto
args = ()
Here, no additional argument is provided. Therefore, an empty list is stored in the args variable.
function2(3, 'toto', 5.4)
x = 3
y = toto
args = (5.4,)
Here, one additional argument has been provided. args is therefore a list containing one float element.
function2(3, 'toto', 5.4, 'z', [0, 3, 4])
x = 3
y = toto
args = (5.4, 'z', [0, 3, 4])
Here, 3 additional arguments are provided. Note that the additional arguments can be of any type, as done in the above.
The **kwargs argument¶
The **kwargs arguments allow to provide additional keyword arguments, provided as a dict, contrary to args, which returns arguments as a list. In this case, the arguments are provided using the key = value syntax.
Imagine you want to define a function that normalizes a time-series, i.e. removes the mean and divides by the standard-deviation:
$Y = \frac{X - \overline{X}}{\sigma_X}$
Your function should be able to include all the possible arguments of the numpy.mean function. You can either copy/paste
the full list of the numpy.mean arguments. However:
This is time-consuming
This is error prone (misspelling, updates)
A better way is to use the **kwargs argument, which is a dictionnary of arguments.
import numpy as np
def stand(x, **kwargs):
print('kwargs = ', kwargs)
m = np.mean(x, **kwargs)
s = np.std(x)
print(m.shape)
return (x - m) / s
In your function, you allow the possibility to include to your function call a list of keyword arguments. These keyword arguments are used in the np.mean function. Therefore, all the keyword arguments of the numpy.mean function can be used in your stand function. Let’s give it a try by creating a dummy variable.
x = np.random.normal(loc=0.0, scale=1.0, size=(1000, 100))
x.shape
(1000, 100)
Now, we call the stand function on this array:
out = stand(x)
out.shape
kwargs = {}
()
(1000, 100)
Here, no keyword arguments has been provided, so the call to the np.mean function computes the mean over the entire table, hence returning a numerics. kwargs is an empty dict object.
Now, if we want to specify the axis along which the mean must be computed:
out = stand(x, axis=0)
kwargs = {'axis': 0}
(100,)
In this case, kwargs is a dictionary containing one key/value couple. In this case, the mean returns an array of size $100$. We can use other arguments that are available on the np.mean function:
out = stand(x, keepdims=True, axis=0) # keeping the dimensions
kwargs = {'keepdims': True, 'axis': 0}
(1, 100)
However, if you provide a keyword argument that does not exist in the numpy.mean, the code will crash.
#out = stand(x, ddof=1) # crashes since ddof is no numpy.mean argument
It would be even better if all the arguments of the np.std function could be used as well. It is possible by using dictionaries as arguments (instead of **kwargs), as done as follows:
def stand(x, argsmean={}, argsstd={}):
m = np.mean(x, **argsmean)
s = np.std(x, **argsstd)
print('mean', m.shape)
print('std' , s.shape)
return (x - m) / s
In this case, we add two optional dictionary arguments (empty by default), one dictionary containing the arguments that will be used in np.mean function (argsmean), and one dictionary containing the arguments that will be used in np.std function (argsstd).
Now we can create the dictionary arguments as follows:
# extra arguments for the plot function
args_mean = {'keepdims':True, 'axis':0}
# extra arguments for the savefig function
args_std = {'keepdims':True, 'axis':0, 'ddof':1}
Now we can see what happens when we call the new stand function, with or without the dict arguments:
out = stand(x)
mean ()
std ()
out = stand(x, argsmean=args_mean) # mean computed over 1st dimensions
mean (1, 100)
std ()
out = stand(x, argsstd=args_std) # std computed over 1st dimension, removes one dof
mean ()
std (1, 100)
out = stand(x, argsmean=args_mean, argsstd=args_std)
mean (1, 100)
std (1, 100)
Lambda functions¶
Lambda function, also called anonymous functions, are not defined by using
the def statement but the lambda one.
More on lambda functions can be found in w3schools
y = lambda x: x**2
print(y(2))
print(y(3))
4
9
z = lambda x, y : x * y
print(z(3, 5))
print(z(5, 7))
15
35
An good example of use of lambda functions is provided in stackoverflow. In order to generate a multiplicator function, one can use a combination of standard and lambda function.
# Takes as argument the value by which variables should be multiplied
def mulgenerator(n):
return (lambda x : x * n)
Here, the mulgenerator function returns a lambda function, i.e. an object that is callable.
# doubler
doubler = mulgenerator(2)
print(type(doubler))
print(doubler(10))
# quadrupler
quadrupler = mulgenerator(4)
print(quadrupler(10))
<class 'function'>
20
40
Loading your libraries¶
If you want to load your own function, stored in a mylib.py file, you first need to add your library directory to the PYTHONPATH. At the beginning of your script, add:
import sys
sys.path.append('/add/other/directory/')
import mylib
When the PYTHONPATH is modified this way, it is only valid for the current Python script.
In order to change the Python default paths, you need to create a PYTHONPATH environment variable. With Mac Os X/Linux, edit your .bashrc or .cshrc file and add:
# bashrc
export PYTHONPATH=${PYTHONPATH}:/add/other/directory
# cshrc
setenv PYTHONPATH /add/other/directory:${PYTHONPATH}
In Windows, see for instance oracle.com
Then, in your Python script, you can use your function as follows:
mylib.function1