WEEK05: functions 
---------------------------------------------------------------
 F: more functions...

REVIEW of functionWorksheet.py:

 - how many arguments are in the call to printdivider()?  
     answer: 1
 - what is the type of the argument in the call to printdivider()? 
     answer: a string
 - what is the name of the parameter in the printdivider() function?
     answer: ch
 - what does printdivider() return?
     answer: nothing...it just prints stuff to the screen
 - which function has the most parameters?
     answer: function one has 4 parameters (num,s1,s2,s3)
 - which function has the least parameters?
     answer: oddfunction and main both have 0 params
 - what is the difference between function2 and function3?
     answer: they do the same thing (add 2x + 2y), but function3
             returns the result to main, where function2 just prints it out
 - if I did s1="jeff" somewhere in function1, would it change the 
   variable "a" back in main??
		 answer: no. it would just reassign s1, but not change a.
 - why does the oddfunction() crash??
     answer: it tries to use variables (a, b, c) that exist in
             main but not in the current function


SCOPE:

 - where in a program a given variable may be referenced or used
 - the variables in any function are **local** to that function,
   and do not exist outside of the function!!

 - here's the function1() function from functionWorksheet.py:

def function1(num,s1,s2,s3):
  print "in function1...dir = ", dir()
  print "in function1...s3 = ", s3
  print s1 + s2
  print s3*num

   you CAN NOT print s1 from main -- it only exists in function1().
   and you CAN NOT print a variable from main (like a or b)
   here in function1().

 - here's a picture of the stack when the function1() function 
   is executing:

              stack
           |           |
           |           |
           -------------
           |function1()|
           |           |
           |  num -----------> points to the 5 below
           |  s3 --------------------------------------
           |  s2 --------------------------           |
           |  s1 ----------------         |           |
           |           |        |         |           |
           |           |        |         |           |
           -------------        |         |           |
           |main()     |        |         |           |
           |           |        V         |           |
           |  a ------------> "happy"     V           |
           |  b ----------------------> "pink"        V
           |  c -----------------------------------> "pony"
           |  n ------------> 5
           |           |
           |           |
           -------------

 - when function1 is done, num,s1,s2,and s3 will be gone

 - if you need some value from main in a function, you need to send
   the value to the function via parameters (and call the function
   with the value as an argument)

 - if you need some value, calculated in a function, back in main, you
   need to return the value from the function to main (using the
   return call) 

 - the function currently executing is at the top of the stack.
   the function that called it (if any) is right below it.


REVIEW of squares.py and the drawSquare() function:

 - here's one way to write the drawSquare() function

def drawSquare(ul, side, window, fillcolor):
  """
  draw a square with ul as upper left point. use side as the
  length of square side. fill with given color and draw to window.
  """
  # create lower-right corner
  lr = ul.clone()
  lr.move(side,side)
  # make object and draw
  s = Rectangle(ul,lr)
  s.draw(window)
  s.setFill(fillcolor)


YOUR TURN:

 - here's a short but interesting function to try:

$ python maxList.py 
[33, 25, 52, 39, 33, 46, 32, 22, 65, 40]

max of L is 65


$ python maxList.py 
[25, 43, 1, 17, 22, 99, 35, 40, 15, 88]

max of L is 99

 - in start-maxList.py I've written a main() function that creates
   a 10-element list of random numbers
 - your job is to add a maxList() function that takes the given
   list and finds and returns the largest number from the list

 maxList outline:

    input = a list
    output = the largest number from the list

 ** this is EASY for us humans to do, but tricky to write down
    as an algorithm the computer can use....