Reference library

Functions & basics

Reusable building blocks — parameters, returns, scope, and clear function design.

5 matches

Call a Function Dynamically by Name in Python

Use globals() to look up and call a function by its name as a string, with optional arguments.

def greet():
    return "Hello from greet!"

def add(a, b):
    return a + b

def multiply(a, b):
    return a * b

if __name__ == "__main__":
    func_name = "add"
    args = (3, 5)
    
    # Call function dynamically by name from globals
    result = globals()[func_name](*args)
    print(f"{func_name}({', '.join(ma…

13 0 Open

Functions & basics easy

Create a retry decorator with max attempts in Python

A decorator that retries a function up to a specified number of times when it raises an exception, with an optional delay between attempts.

decorator retry error-handling

Python

import functools
import time


def retry(max_attempts, delay=0.1):
    """Retry a function up to max_attempts times on exception."""
    def decorator(func):
        @functools.wraps(func)
        def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
            for attempt in range(1, max_attempts + 1):
                try:
                …

12 0 Open

Functions & basics easy

How to Create Functions with Default Parameters in Python

This code defines two Python functions using default parameters to handle missing arguments gracefully, demonstrating how to work with optional inputs and keyword arguments.

default-parameters functions arguments

Python

def greet(name="Guest", greeting="Hello", punctuation="!"):
    """Generate a greeting message using default parameters."""
    return f"{greeting}, {name}{punctuation}"


def create_profile(username="anonymous", age=0, city="Unknown", active=True):
    """Create a user profile dictionary with default values."""
    r…

15 0 Open

Functions & basics easy

How to Parse Command Line Arguments in Python with argparse

Build a CLI that accepts positional integers, an optional --sum flag, and a --verbose switch, all with Python's standard argparse library.

argparse cli command line

Python

import argparse

def main():
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Process some integers.')
    parser.add_argument('numbers', metavar='N', type=int, nargs='+',
                        help='an integer for the accumulator')
    parser.add_argument('--sum', dest='accumulate', action='store_const',
         …

12 0 Open

Functions & basics easy

How to Parse Function Parameters with Defaults in Python

Create Python functions with default parameter values to make arguments optional and provide sensible fallbacks.

functions default-parameters arguments

Python

def greet(name, greeting="Hello", punctuation="!"):
    """Greet a person with customizable greeting and punctuation."""
    return f"{greeting}, {name}{punctuation}"

def describe_fruit(fruit, color="unknown", ripe=False):
    """Describe a fruit with optional attributes."""
    status = "ripe" if ripe else "not ripe…

14 0 Open

Browse by section

Each section groups closely related Python snippets.