Python for Absolute Beginners Transcripts
Chapter: Course conclusion
Lecture: Review: Functions
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One of the most powerful tools we have
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in our programming toolbox for changing the way
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that we think about and work with our code
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is functions.
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Functions allow us to group together
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a bunch of small little steps
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into one very simple step.
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Here we have a bunch of things going on
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we have a function called play around.
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It takes some arguments
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and then we take a bunch of work inside the function.
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But all that matters once we write this
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when we want to use it
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we know pass player_1 and player_2's name
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and then what we'll get back
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is the value of the winner.
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Either player_1 or player_2
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or if there's a tie, we get none.
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And that allows us two really important things.
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One, it allows up to think about
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well this step is where you play the round.
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We don't have to worry about the details.
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Remember in our later part of the course
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we changed the way that we got the input from the users.
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We got that instead of just saying
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input and type in a number
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we actually used that autocomplete thing.
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The stuff that was calling
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get play or get role from the user
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they didn't have to go and know
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that we changed how that worked.
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It just got changed and
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everywhere we used it automatically
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the better version got used.
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It allows us to hide away
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and not worry about the details
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just used the high level idea
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of playing around.
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It also lets us organize our code
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in a way that is much simpler.
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We can think about here we're going to play around
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we're going to check for the winner.
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If there's enough winners.
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I have enough wins for any given player
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we're going to exit out of the loop
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and they win.
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It allows you to think at a very high level
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instead of at every single bit
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you're thinking about the details.
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Super cool.
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Be sure to make use of functions
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try to keep them short and small.
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If they get really long and cumbersome
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you probably want to break that further
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into smaller functions.
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Allow you to get smaller and smaller detail as you go down
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and not get things too complicated all in one place.
