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Functions, Scope, and Functional Programming

📚 Lesson 4 of 20 ⏱️ 55 min

Functions, Scope, and Functional Programming

55 min

Functions are first-class objects in Python, meaning they can be assigned to variables, passed as arguments, and returned from other functions. This enables powerful functional programming patterns.

Python's scoping rules follow the LEGB (Local, Enclosing, Global, Built-in) hierarchy. Understanding scope is crucial for avoiding bugs and writing maintainable code.

Function annotations and type hints improve code documentation and enable better IDE support. Modern Python development heavily relies on proper type annotations.

Higher-order functions, closures, and decorators are advanced concepts that enable elegant solutions to complex problems and are widely used in production code.

Decorators are a powerful feature that allows you to modify or extend the behavior of functions without changing their code. They're commonly used for logging, timing, caching, and authentication.

Closures allow inner functions to access variables from their enclosing scope even after the outer function has finished executing, enabling powerful patterns like function factories.

Key Concepts

  • Functions are first-class objects in Python.
  • LEGB rule determines variable scope resolution.
  • Decorators modify function behavior without changing code.
  • Closures capture variables from enclosing scopes.
  • Higher-order functions accept or return other functions.

Learning Objectives

Master

  • Understanding Python's scoping rules (LEGB)
  • Creating and using decorators
  • Implementing closures and function factories
  • Applying functional programming patterns

Develop

  • Functional programming thinking
  • Code reusability and modularity
  • Understanding Python's function model

Tips

  • Use @functools.wraps in decorators to preserve function metadata.
  • Understand LEGB scope resolution to avoid variable shadowing bugs.
  • Use closures to create function factories with different configurations.
  • Apply functional programming patterns (map, filter, reduce) when appropriate.

Common Pitfalls

  • Modifying mutable default arguments (use None instead).
  • Not understanding scope, causing variable shadowing or NameError.
  • Forgetting to use @functools.wraps in decorators.
  • Overusing functional programming when simple loops would be clearer.

Summary

  • Functions are first-class objects enabling powerful patterns.
  • LEGB rule determines how Python resolves variable names.
  • Decorators extend function behavior without modifying code.
  • Closures and higher-order functions enable elegant solutions.

Exercise

Implement a comprehensive function demonstration that showcases advanced Python function features, including decorators, closures, and functional programming patterns.

from typing import Callable, List, Any, Optional
from functools import wraps, reduce
import time
import logging

# Configure logging
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

def performance_monitor(func: Callable) -> Callable:
    """Decorator to monitor function performance."""
    @wraps(func)
    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
        start_time = time.time()
        result = func(*args, **kwargs)
        end_time = time.time()
        logger.info(f"{func.__name__} executed in {end_time - start_time:.4f} seconds")
        return result
    return wrapper

def validate_input(func: Callable) -> Callable:
    """Decorator to validate function inputs."""
    @wraps(func)
    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
        # Example validation for numeric functions
        for arg in args:
            if not isinstance(arg, (int, float)):
                raise TypeError(f"Expected numeric type, got {type(arg)}")
        return func(*args, **kwargs)
    return wrapper

class FunctionAnalyzer:
    """Demonstrates advanced function concepts and patterns."""
    
    def __init__(self):
        self.cache = {}
        self._call_count = 0
    
    @performance_monitor
    @validate_input
    def fibonacci(self, n: int) -> int:
        """Calculate Fibonacci number with memoization."""
        if n in self.cache:
            return self.cache[n]
        
        if n <= 1:
            result = n
        else:
            result = self.fibonacci(n - 1) + self.fibonacci(n - 2)
        
        self.cache[n] = result
        return result
    
    def create_closure(self, multiplier: int) -> Callable[[int], int]:
        """Demonstrate closure concept."""
        def multiply(x: int) -> int:
            return x * multiplier
        return multiply
    
    def higher_order_function(self, func: Callable, data: List[Any]) -> List[Any]:
        """Apply a function to each element in a list."""
        return [func(item) for item in data]
    
    def compose_functions(self, *functions: Callable) -> Callable:
        """Compose multiple functions into a single function."""
        def composed(*args, **kwargs):
            result = functions[0](*args, **kwargs)
            for func in functions[1:]:
                result = func(result)
            return result
        return composed
    
    def partial_application(self, func: Callable, *args, **kwargs) -> Callable:
        """Create a new function with some arguments pre-filled."""
        from functools import partial
        return partial(func, *args, **kwargs)

def demonstrate_functional_programming():
    """Show functional programming concepts in action."""
    
    # Pure functions
    def add(a: int, b: int) -> int:
        """Pure function - no side effects."""
        return a + b
    
    def square(x: int) -> int:
        """Pure function - no side effects."""
        return x ** 2
    
    # Function composition
    add_and_square = lambda x, y: square(add(x, y))
    
    # Map, filter, reduce
    numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
    
    # Map: transform each element
    squared_numbers = list(map(square, numbers))
    
    # Filter: select elements that meet criteria
    even_numbers = list(filter(lambda x: x % 2 == 0, numbers))
    
    # Reduce: combine all elements
    sum_of_squares = reduce(lambda acc, x: acc + x, squared_numbers)
    
    return {
        "squared_numbers": squared_numbers,
        "even_numbers": even_numbers,
        "sum_of_squares": sum_of_squares,
        "add_and_square_example": add_and_square(3, 4)
    }

def main():
    """Run comprehensive function demonstration."""
    analyzer = FunctionAnalyzer()
    
    print("=== Advanced Function Concepts ===\n")
    
    # Test memoized Fibonacci
    print("Fibonacci with memoization:")
    for i in range(10):
        result = analyzer.fibonacci(i)
        print(f"  F({i}) = {result}")
    print()
    
    # Test closure
    print("Closure demonstration:")
    multiply_by_5 = analyzer.create_closure(5)
    multiply_by_10 = analyzer.create_closure(10)
    print(f"  multiply_by_5(7) = {multiply_by_5(7)}")
    print(f"  multiply_by_10(7) = {multiply_by_10(7)}")
    print()
    
    # Test higher-order function
    print("Higher-order function demonstration:")
    numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
    squared = analyzer.higher_order_function(square, numbers)
    doubled = analyzer.higher_order_function(lambda x: x * 2, numbers)
    print(f"  Original: {numbers}")
    print(f"  Squared: {squared}")
    print(f"  Doubled: {doubled}")
    print()
    
    # Test function composition
    print("Function composition:")
    add_then_square = analyzer.compose_functions(add, square)
    result = add_then_square(3, 4)  # (3 + 4)² = 49
    print(f"  add_then_square(3, 4) = {result}")
    print()
    
    # Test functional programming
    print("Functional programming patterns:")
    fp_results = demonstrate_functional_programming()
    print(f"  Squared numbers: {fp_results['squared_numbers']}")
    print(f"  Even numbers: {fp_results['even_numbers']}")
    print(f"  Sum of squares: {fp_results['sum_of_squares']}")
    print(f"  Add and square example: {fp_results['add_and_square_example']}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Exercise Tips

  • Use @wraps from functools to preserve function metadata in decorators.
  • Test closures by creating multiple instances with different configurations.
  • Compare functional programming (map/filter) with list comprehensions.
  • Add type hints to all functions for better documentation.

Code Editor

Output