Functions & basics
Reusable building blocks — parameters, returns, scope, and clear function design.
Benchmark list append vs comprehension in Python
This micro-benchmark compares the speed of building a list with a for loop and append versus a list comprehension, using the timeit module to get precise timings.
import timeit
# Build a list of the first 1,000,000 integers using append in a loop
def append_loop(n=1_000_000):
result = []
for i in range(n):
result.append(i)
return result
# Build the same list using a list comprehension
def comprehension(n=1_000_000):
return [i for i in range(n)]
if __n…Python Filter Function with Default Parameters for Beginners
Create a reusable filter function with default parameters to keep or exclude numbers above or below a threshold.
def filter_numbers(numbers, threshold=0, reverse=False):
"""Return numbers that pass the threshold filter.
Args:
numbers: list of numbers to filter
threshold: minimum value to keep (default 0)
reverse: if True, keep numbers below threshold (default False)
"""
if reverse:
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Functions & basics — Python code examples
What you will find here
This page collects functions & basics snippets — short, copy-ready Python you can paste into our free online IDE and run without installing anything. Each sample includes a plain-English explanation and the full source code.
Samples vs tutorials and challenges
Samples are quick reference — one concept per page. For step-by-step teaching, use our Python tutorials. To test yourself, try quizzes or coding challenges. Clean up style with the Python formatter.