Input parameters

At the beginning of this chapter, we saw that a function can take input parameters. Before we delve into all possible type of parameters, let's make sure you have a clear understanding of what passing a parameter to a function means. There are three key points to keep in mind:

• Argument passing is nothing more than assigning an object to a local variable name

• Assigning an object to an argument name inside a function doesn't affect the caller

• Changing a mutable object argument in a function affects the caller

Let's look at an example for each of these points.

Argument passing

Take a look at the following code. We declare a name x in the global scope, then we declare a function func(y) and we call it, passing x. I highlighted the call in the code.

key.points.argument.passing.py

x = 3
def func(y):
    print(y)
func(x)  # prints: 3

When func is called with x, what happens is that within its local scope, a name y is created, and it's pointed to the same object x is pointing to. This...