Inner Functions

00:00 Next, I want to show you inner functions. Is it possible to define functions inside of other functions? Sure! Let me show you an example. To start, I’ll have you define a function named parent().

00:17 The first part of the statement, parent() is going to print("Printing from the parent() function"). Next, you need to indent over and define another function inside of parent().

00:28 It’s named first_child(). So far, all of these functions don’t take any arguments. I made a small mistake there, pressing Return a little early, but it will work the same. So for this function, first_child(), it will have a print statement saying "Printing from the first_child() function".

00:48 And now I’ll have you define a second_child() function. It will look similar, "Printing from the second_child()". Now, before you leave the statement and end this function, I’ll have you call second_child() with parentheses—so we’ll call it—and then call first_child().

01:06 So, what will happen when you call parent()? First off, as it walks down through the statement, it prints "the parent() function".

01:17 Then it defines first_child() and defines second_child(), setting both of them up. Then, it actually will print "the second_child() function", and print "the first_child() function" last. I know this is a very simple example, but you can get the concept that even elaborate functions could be defined inside of other functions.

01:42 What if you tried to access first_child by typing its name? It says […] 'first_child' is not defined. And second_child?

01:56 Same thing. So those objects are not defined within the scope outside of this function.

02:05 They’re only inside parent().

02:10 Both of them reside inside of there, locally. That’s what the next video is about. What if you wanted to access functions that live inside another function?

02:22 Can you return them out of an existing parent function? Get them out of the local scope, and be usable outside of it? That’s what I’ll show you next.