[Optional] Review Function Basics: Defining and Calling Python Functions

00:00 Hello! Welcome to this course on defining your own functions in Python. If you’ve reached a point in your own programming in Python where you’ve started to use other functions and you’re wanting to learn a little bit more about them and especially how to write them, then this course is exactly what you need.

00:19 In this course, we will take a look at what functions are and why they’re useful. We’ll talk about the difference between defining a function and calling a function.

00:28 We’ll spend a lot of time taking a look at how information is passed to and from a function through argument passing and the return statement.

00:37 Then we’ll spend a lot of time taking a look at some of the features Python provides to really specialize how you provide arguments to a Python function. Then, lastly, we will take a look at how you can let other programmers know how to use your function.

00:58 The goals for this course: After this course, you will know how functions work in Python and why they’re beneficial. You’ll learn how to define and call your own Python functions.

01:08 You’ll learn a lot of mechanisms for passing arguments to your function, and how to return data from your function back to the calling environment.

01:17 I’m Howard, and I’m excited to be leading you through this course. We will start with just taking a general look at functions in Python.