python · level 1 · unit 7 · lesson 1
- meet it
- guess first
- your turn
- fix it
- nailed it
Tap a green word if you get lost.
meet it
A is a recipe card with a name on top.
A function is a set of instructions wrapped up under one name. You write the recipe once, then cook it as often as you like, without copying a single line.
To a function, type def, a name, empty brackets and a colon. The indented lines underneath are the recipe. Defining it does not run it. It only writes the card.
To it, write its name with brackets, like cheer(). Every line in the recipe then runs, top to bottom. Call it twice and it runs twice.
def cheer():
print("Go team!")
print("You can do it!")
cheer()
cheer()def is short for define, and if you change the recipe, every call uses the new version.
guess first
Python reads top to bottom. What will this show?
Guess before you run it. Wrong guesses are how you learn, and nothing is marked.
cheer()
def cheer():
print("Go team!")your turn
Your turn. Write your own chant.
Pick a name for your function and type it in all three name blanks. Put any words you like between the quotes, then run it.
fix it
The dog will not bark. Can you fix it?
- The function is written perfectly. Look at the last line, where you try to use it.
- Writing a function's name on its own does not call it. Something is missing after the name.
- Add brackets after bark on the last line, so it says bark(), then run.
nailed it
you wrote your very own command. :D
- A function is a set of instructions with a name.
- Define it with
def, a name, brackets and a colon. - Call it with its name and brackets, after you define it.
new words in your collection
- function
- define
- call
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