On Thu, 7 Apr 2005, Luke Jordan wrote:
> I am looking for a little clarification of how exactly this would work.
>
> 1. How do I associate a function to a dict key?
Hi Luke,
We're probably already familiar of values like numbers and strings, and
how to give them names with variables:
######
>>> number = 42
>>> name = "luke"
>>> number
42
>>> name
'luke'
######
'number' is a name that refers to the value 42, and 'name' is a name (Doh!
I must use a better variable name next time...) that refers to the value
"luke".
And we also already know how to make functions and to call them:
######
>>> def square(x):
... return x * x
...
>>> square(42)
1764
######
But what happens if we just say "square" at the interpreter?
######
>>> square
<function square at 0x40300b1c>
######
The value of 'square' is a function value.
And just like any other value, we can assign it to another name:
######
>>> anotherNameForSquare = square
>>> anotherNameForSquare(16)
256
######
And just like any other value, we can use it as a dictionary value:
######
>>> operators = {'^2': square}
>>> operators['^2']
<function square at 0x40300b1c>
>>> operators['^2'](4)
16
######
Does this make sense so far? Please feel free to ask more questions about
this. Best of wishes!
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