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The terms beginners, intermediate, and advanced are often used, but they’re really hard to define. What’s intermediate for a beginner is beginner’s stuff for someone advanced, and so on. Still, at least Beginners has a clear starting point, so some posts will be tagged as beginners.
You've already covered a lot of ground in this Intermediate Python Functions series. In this article, you'll read about a relatively new addition in Python called type hinting or type annotation. Unlike all the other topics you learnt about in the previous articles, this one will not change the behaviour of the function you define.… Continue reading Using Type Hints When Defining A Python Function [Intermediate Python Functions Series #6]
In the first three articles in this Series, you familiarised yourself with the key terms when dealing with functions. You also explored positional and keyword arguments and optional arguments with default values. In this article, you'll look at different types of optional arguments. Rather unfortunately, these are often referred to by the obscure names args… Continue reading Argh! What are args and kwargs in Python? [Intermediate Python Functions Series #4]
We continue our journey through Python functions by looking at optional arguments and default values. In this article, you'll see how you can define a function with an optional argument. A default value is used if the argument is not included in the function call. Overview Of The Intermediate Python Functions Series Here's an overview… Continue reading Optional Arguments With Default Values in Python Functions [Intermediate Python Functions Series #3]
In the first article in this Intermediate Python Functions Series, you made sure you got your terminology right. So you know what an argument is. But what are positional arguments and keyword arguments in Python? In this article, you'll see how you can choose to use either of the two in many situations. Later in… Continue reading Using Positional Arguments and Named or Keyword Arguments in Python Functions [Intermediate Python Functions Series #2]
Those learning to code learn about functions very early on in their journey. Not only do beginners use Python functions right from their first lesson, but they also learn to define their own Python functions early on. It may be tempting–and in my experience, it's a common pitfall early on–for a relative beginner to think… Continue reading Moving On From The Basics of Python Functions [#1 in Intermediate Python Functions Series]
Read the docs. Look at the source code. Yes, these are great tips to figure out what's happening underneath the hood. But sometimes you want to do a bit of experimentation and exploration of your own first. It's more fun this way. And sometimes more instructive, too. Here's something I came across today which I… Continue reading Mini-Post: Exploring Python Functions Through Experimentation
Functions in Python are one of those topics for beginners! Most understand what functions are at a basic level. However, there's much more detail and nuance to defining and calling functions in Python. As with most things in coding and Python, there's nothing better than a good analogy to picture what's happening behind the scenes.… Continue reading Functions in Python are Like a Coffee Machine
You may think the Python turtle module isn't useful for anything. "It's just for kids", is what many think of it. However, this module allows you to explore and experiment with many areas of Python. In this article, you'll write a Python turtle animation of a sunrise scene using named tuples: https://videopress.com/v/OgwI5VyJ?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true As you work… Continue reading Sunrise: A Python Turtle Animation Using Named Tuples
Visualising Maths using Python - Understanding sines and cosines and their link with the circle through an animation using Python and turtle
Have you ever struggled to truly understand a topic? Perhaps one related to your work, or maybe linked to a hobby? Writing a computer program to investigate the subject can often help you get that extra level of understanding you're looking for. I've often used this method to understand fairly abstract physics concepts in my… Continue reading Understanding Two-Point Perspective Drawing using Python