Topic 3.12 (3.A) Calling & Understanding Procedures - Kaiden & Amay

Overview: Learning Objectives

  • Basics of Procedures
  • Calling Procedures
  • Determine Results of Procedures

What is a procedure?

Essential Knowledge:

  • A procedure is a named set of instructions that can take in parameters and return values.
    • May be called "method" or "function" in different programming languages.
  • Parameters are independent variables used in the procedure to produce a result. It allows a procedure to execute without initially knowing specific input values.
  • Procedures can be classified as sequencing, selection, and iteration. How?

Example:

  • What is the procedure's name?
  • What are the parameters?
  • What did the procedure return?
x = 5
y = 3

def multiply(x, y):
    product = x * y
    return product

answer = multiply(x, y)
print("The product of", x, "times", y, "is", answer)
The product of 5 times 3 is 15

Calling Procedures

  • To call a procedure you would write the name of the procedure followed by the parentheses with the parameters of the procedure
  • Procedures do not require parameters, but the parentheses must be there

Ex:

  • procedureName(parameter1, parameter2, ...)
  • How would you call this procedure?
num = 5
def math(x):
    op1 = x * 2
    op2 = op1 - 9
    return op2

Quiz (Part of Hacks)

Complete this quiz:

questionNum = 3
correct = 0
questions = [
    "What is are correct names for a procedure? \n A) Method \n B) Function \n C) Both",
    "What is a procedure? \n A) Sequencing \n B) Selection \n C) Iteration \n D) All",
    "Use this for following question: \n def inchesToFeet(lengthInches): \n\t lengthFeet = lengthInches / 12 \n\t return lengthFeet \n\n What is the procedure name, the parameter, and what the procedure returns? \n A) feetToInches, lengthInches, lengthMeters \n B) inchesToFeet, lengthInches, lengthFeet \n C) inchesToFeet, lengthFeet, lengthInches \n D) lengthInches, inchesToFeet, lengthFeet"]
answers = ["c", "d", "b"]

def qna(question, answer):
    print("Question:", question)
    response = input()
    print("Answer:", response)
    
    if response.lower() == answer:
        print("Correct :) \n")
        global correct
        correct += 1
    else:
        print("Incorrect :( \n")
for x in range(questionNum):
    qna(questions[x], answers[x])
    
print("Score:", correct, "/ 3")
Question: What is are correct names for a procedure? 
 A) Method 
 B) Function 
 C) Both
Answer: c
Correct :) 

Question: What is a procedure? 
 A) Sequencing 
 B) Selection 
 C) Iteration 
 D) All
Answer: d
Correct :) 

Question: Use this for following question: 
 def inchesToFeet(lengthInches): 
	 lengthFeet = lengthInches / 12 
	 return lengthFeet 

 What is the procedure name, the parameter, and what the procedure returns? 
 A) feetToInches, lengthInches, lengthMeters 
 B) inchesToFeet, lengthInches, lengthFeet 
 C) inchesToFeet, lengthFeet, lengthInches 
 D) lengthInches, inchesToFeet, lengthFeet
Answer: b
Correct :) 

Score: 3 / 3

Determining the Result of a Procedure

  • To determine the result of a procedure or any code, you must follow the code line by line and see what each one does

  • Using syntax, you can determine the result by

    • function parameters
    • return value and statements
  • To use return values, you have to write the syntax return followed by the expression you would like to return var
  • A return statement exits a function and instructs python to continue executing the program and to return a certain value

  • Value can be string, a tuple, or any other type that is being sent back to the main program

Ex:

def divide(num1,num2):
      x = num1/num2
      return x
  • what is x being assigned to inside the function?

  • As a reminder, to use function parameters, you would have to write the syntax name of the function followed by the parameters needed in parentheses

  • Function parameters are the parameters that are used when calling the function in order to get a result.

What are the function parameters in this procedure?

What values are being passed to the function?

def function(first_name, last_name):
   print(first_name + " " + last_name)

function("Peter","Parker")
function("Safin", "Singh")
Peter Parker
Safin Singh

In the cell above, the function is being called twice, which shows the importance of function in order to accomplish the same thing with different parameters.

What is wrong with the function?

Can you translate the binary numbers into decimal notation?

def find_cube(num):
    result = bin(num * num * num) 
    return result

cube = find_cube(3)
cube2 = find_cube(4)


print('Cube:',cube)
print('Cube:',cube2 )
Cube: 0b11011
Cube: 0b1000000

Once again, I called the function twice, which is useful, because it allows the coder to do the same thing multiple times with different arguments.

Topic 3.13 (3.B) Managing Complexity - Safin

Overview: Learning Objectives

  • increasing code modularity using procedures
    • abstracting large problems into smaller ones
    • extract shared features to reduce code duplication
  • using parameters to reuse procedures
  • improving code readability with procedures
  • manipulating procedure logic and preserving output

    Essentially, we'll learn how and when it is appropriate to construct a function (procedural abstraction) and what its benefits are

Vocabulary:

  • Modularity - the practice of breaking a complex program into smaller, independent parts or modules that can be used and reused in different parts of the program
  • Abstraction - the practice of hiding the details of how a particular code or system works and exposing only the essential features or functions that are necessary for other parts of the program to use
  • Duplication - having multiple duplicate code blocks, often decreasing readability and efficiency
  • Logic - the sequence of steps and operations that a computer follows to execute a program, including the specific instructions and decision-making processes built into the code

Parameters

As we saw above, parameters can be used to make functions work with multiple different inputs. Let's review the following code

# these parameters are the inputs to the function, and they are used
# inside the function to perform some operation
def add(x, y):
    # inside the function, we can use the x and y parameters just like
    # we would use any other variable
    result = x + y
    
    return result

# to call the function and pass in values for the x and y parameters,
# we simply provide the values as arguments in the function call
result = add(2, 3)
print(result) # should output 5

# we can also use variables as arguments in the function call
x = 5
y = 10
result = add(x, y)
print(result) # should output 15

# we can even use the result of one function call as an argument
# in another function call
result = add(add(2, 3), add(4, 5))
print(result) # should output 14
5
15
14

In the above example, parameters were used to create a function that could be called multiple times without code duplication.

Modularity

In the following example, we will use specialized functions and explain their benefits:

import math

def hypotenuse(leg1, leg2):
    # notice we're using this <var> * <var> syntax multiple times?
    # this has multiple drawbacks:
    # - it's repetitive and makes the code longer
    # - if we wanted to change the operator being 
    #   applied to `leg1` and `leg2`, we'd have to do it twice!
    leg1_squared = leg1 * leg1
    leg2_squared = leg2 * leg2
    return math.sqrt(leg1_squared + leg2_squared)

## VERSUS ##

# this works, but let's try to write the "squared" variable assignment statements more concisely...
def square(a):
    return a * a

def hypotenuse_abstracted(leg1, leg2):
    # not only is this shorter, but we can now:
    # - better understand the code at a glance--we know exactly 
    #   what `square` should do
    # - change the operator in a single place (`square`) rather than
    #   multiple times within this hypotenuse function
    leg1_squared = square(leg1)
    leg2_squared = square(leg2)
    return math.sqrt(leg1_squared + leg2_squared)

## EXTRA CHALLENGE ##
# is it possible to write the `hypotenuse` function in a single line?
def hypotenuse_abstracted2(leg1, leg2):
    # ...
    pass

assert hypotenuse(3, 4) == hypotenuse_abstracted(3, 4) == 5

Abstracting Shared Features

Say we want to create a set of functions that count the number of words in a sentence that start with a certain character. We want to create...

  • count_words_starting_with_a_in_string(sentence)
  • count_words_starting_with_d_in_string(sentence)

In order to count words starting with a certain character, we'll first need to split up the sentence into words. This behavior will be shared across both functions we intend to create, so procedural abstraction is appropriate here.

# is a separate element in the list
def split_string(s):
    # use the split() method to split the string into a list of words
    words = s.split(" ")

	# initialize a new list to hold all non-empty strings
    new_words = []
    for word in words:
        if word != "":
            # add all non-empty substrings of `words` to `new_words`
            new_words.append(word)
    
    return words

# this function takes a list of words as input and returns the number of words
# that start with the given letter (case-insensitive)
def count_words_starting_with_letter(words, letter):
    count = 0
    
    # loop through the list of words and check if each word starts with the given letter
    for word in words:
        # use the lower() method to make the comparison case-insensitive
        if word.lower().startswith(letter):
            count += 1
    
    return count

# this function takes a string as input and returns the number of words that start with 'a'
def count_words_starting_with_a_in_string(s):
    # use the split_string() function to split the input string into a list of words
    words = split_string(s)
    
    # use the count_words_starting_with_letter() function to count the number of words
    # that start with 'a' in the list of words
    count = count_words_starting_with_letter(words, "a")
    
    return count

# see above
def count_words_starting_with_d_in_string(s):
    words = split_string(s)
    count = count_words_starting_with_letter(words, "d")
    return count

# example usage:
s = "   This is  a  test  string! Don't you think this is cool? "
a_count = count_words_starting_with_a_in_string(s)
d_count = count_words_starting_with_d_in_string(s)
print("Words starting with a:", a_count)
print("Words starting with d:", d_count)
Words starting with a: 1
Words starting with d: 1

In the above example, we have:

  • defined several functions that perform different tasks related to processing a string
  • abstracted away shared behavior for both functions that count the number of words starting with a specific character in a string

Topic 3.13 (3.C) Developing Procedures - David & Alex

Overview: Learning Objectives

  • parameters being used to manage complexity
    • parameters storing variables
    • parameters storing arguments
  • calling functions with procedure names
    • choosing procedure names
    • calling procedures in python and javascript

Vocabulary:

  • Procedure - a module of code that is created to complete a certain task, this is basically a function
  • Procedure Name - the name that is given to a function/procedure
  • Parameters - a variable that is used in a function to allow for data to be imported into a function
  • Arguments - a way to provide information to a function, usually defined outside a function and then imported into a function with parameters

Functions - Basic Structure

Functions can be created in many different languages. Below are some examples in Collegeboard's format, Python, and Javascript.

Collegeboard

collegeboard-format

Above, the function is defined as PROCEDURE, which tells the coder that this is a function. The function is then named with procName, which is simply how the function is identified. parameter1, parameter2,... are variables that can be predefined elsewhere and repeatedly used in the same function. This will be gone over later in the lesson so don't worry if you don't get it. block of statements are just things that you would place inside a function to complete a certain task, such as print() in Python.

Python

def function(a,b): # function is defined
  print(a+b) # prints output of variables

function(1,2) # one instance that it can be used
function(2,3) # another instance
3
5

Python is similar to the Collegeboard example, where def defines the function, function, and then is followed by parameters a,b, which can later be interchanged with any numbers as shown with function(1,2). The numbers are called arguments, which are information provided to the function with parameters. In this case, the parameters are being added within the function and then printed.

Javascript

function Function(a,b) {
  return a + b;
}

Function(1,2)
Function(2,3)
3
5

Javascript in this case is almost the exact same as Python, the only differences being that function is called with function and that the formatting is a little different. Otherwise, it does the exact same thing as the Python example.

Example

function div(a,b) {
  return (a+b)/2
}

div(3,7)
  • What is the procedure name?
  • What are the parameters?
  • What operation is being done?
  • what would the output of this code be?

Parameters

  • In functions, there are sometimes parameters that the functions have in which you can call to the function giving arguements that will provide input to the function For example:
def function(num1, num2):
    if num1 > num2:
        print("num1 is greater than num2")
    elif num1 <num2:
        print("num1 is less than num 2")

num1= 6
num2 = 8
function(num1,num2)
num1 is less than num 2
  • In this function, it takes in two parameters num1 and num2
  • Whithin this function it uses conditionals to determine if num 1 is larger or smaller than num2
  • When calling to this function we must put in two arguements, num1 and num2 respectively
  • We put in 6 for num1 and 8 for num2 and the algorithm runs and gives us an outcome

This basic function in python can be recreated in Javasript

function compare(a,b) {
    if(a>b) {
        console.log("a is greater than b")
    } else if (a<b) {
        console.log("a is less than b")
    }
}

// How do you call to this function?
  • what are the parameters?
  • What is the output?
  • what are the arguements?

Calling functions

  • When calling functions, you have to ask yourself some questions
    • Does the function have any parameters?
    • does the parameter have output?
  • Depending on these answers, the way you will call to a function will be different

Example where it does does have parameters and gives output

def InchestoFeet(inches):
    Feet = 0
    Feet = inches / 12
    return Feet
result = InchestoFeet(24)
print(result)
2
  • If you look closely, there is a return at the end of the function, this returns a value when you call the function
  • This is why we have to set a variable, in this case result equal to the output of the function.
  • Also one thing to notice is that this function also takes in a parameter called inches

Here's an example of calling functions in HTML with Javascript:

<!-- function is called here -->
<button id="enter" onclick="print(a,b)">HI</button> 
<p id="result"></p>
<!-- javascript -->
<script>
    function print(a,b) {
        document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = a + b // math
    }
    // variables are defined
    var a = 1
    var b = 2
</script>

Hacks

Topic 3.12 (3.A):

  1. Define procedure and parameter in your own words
  2. Paste a screenshot of completion of the quiz
  3. Define Return Values and Output Parameters in your own words
  4. Code a procedure that finds the square root of any given number. (make sure to call and return the function)

Topic 3.13 (3.B):

  1. Explain, in your own words, why abstracting away your program logic into separate, modular functions is effective
  2. Create a procedure that uses other sub-procedures (other functions) within it and explain why the abstraction was needed (conciseness, shared behavior, etc.)
  3. Add another layer of abstraction to the word counter program (HINT: create a function that can count the number of words starting with ANY character in a given string -- how can we leverage parameters for this?)

Topic 3.13 (3.C):

  1. Define procedure names and arguments in your own words.
  2. Code some procedures that use arguments and parameters with Javascript and HTML (make sure they are interactive on your hacks page, allowing the user to input numbers and click a button to produce an output)
    • Add two numbers
    • Subtract two numbers
    • Multiply two numbers
    • Divide two numbers

Rubric

Each hack is worth 0.3 points

  • To get 0.3 points for each hack you must:
    • Complete each hack correctly and completely
    • Submit by 11:59PM on Friday, December 9
  • The last 0.1 points are if you do a good job on the binary calculator.
  • Anything missing or submitted late will have points deducted.