Let’s take another look at the definition of the function square
from the previous exercise:
def square(n):
Here, n
is a parameter of square
. A parameter is a variable that is an input to a function. It says, “Later, when square
is used, you’ll be able to input any value you want, but for now we’ll call that future value n.” A function can have any number of parameters.
The values of the parameters passed into a function are known as the arguments. Recall in the previous example, we called:
py
square(10)
Here, the function square
was called with the parameter n
set to the argument 10
.
Typically, when you call a function, you should pass in the same number of arguments as there are parameters.
To summarize:
- When defining a function, placeholder variables are called parameters.
- When using, or calling, a function, inputs into the function are called arguments.
Instructions
Check out the function in the editor, power
. It should take two arguments, a base and an exponent, and raise the first to the power of the second. It’s currently broken, however, because its parameters are missing.
Replace the ___
s with the parameters base
and exponent
and then call the power
function with a base
of 37
and an exponent
of 4
.