Chapter 4. Defining Functions and Using Built-ins

Functions are the fundamental unit of work in Python. A function in Python performs a task and returns a result. In this chapter, we will start with the basics of functions. Then we look at using the built-in functions. These are the core functions that are always available, meaning they don't require an explicit import into your namespace. Next we will look at some alternative ways of defining functions, such as lambdas and classes. We will also look at more advanced types of functions, namely closures and generator functions.

As you will see, functions are very easy to define and use. Python encourages an incremental style of development that you can leverage when writing functions. So how does ...

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