Basic Functions

A function is a reusable piece of code that is only run when it is called. Functions can have inputs, and they usually return an output. For example, using a Python shell, you can define the following function that takes two inputs and returns the sum:

def add_up(x, y):
    return x + y
add_up(1, 3)

You should get the following output:

4

Exercise 42: Defining and Calling the Function in Shell

In this exercise, you create a function that will return the second element of a list if it exists:

1. In a Python shell, enter the function definition. Note that the tab spacing needs to match the following output:

   def get_second_element(mylist):
       if len(mylist) > 1:
           return mylist[1]
       else:
           return 'List was too small'

   Here you are calling print logs the parsed message to the standard output...