Perplexed over a simple function in Python

Question

Look at the code below:

def foo (x):

    print("foo environment: x = {0}".format(x))
    def bar (z, x = 0):
        print("bar environment: z = {0} and x = {1}.  Value to be returned: {2}".format(z, x, x+z))
        return z + x

    return bar(3)

foo(5)

foo environment: x = 5
bar environment: z = 3 and x = 0.  Value to be returned: 3
3

Since in the foo environment x = 5, why bar uses the value 0?

Anton vBR · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-14 06:59:45Z

2

You are only passing one argument here:

return bar(3)

The bar function accepts two values, one z and one x (x has a default value (0) and that is why only 1 argument is enough). By only passing the z, x=0.

Try this, and see what happens:

return bar(3, x)

edited Jul 14, 2018 at 6:59

answered Jul 14, 2018 at 6:53

Anton vBR

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