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For 2023 (and 2024 ...) - we are now fully retired from IT training.
We have made many, many friends over 25 years of teaching about Python, Tcl, Perl, PHP, Lua, Java, C and C++ - and MySQL, Linux and Solaris/SunOS too. Our training notes are now very much out of date, but due to upward compatability most of our examples remain operational and even relevant ad you are welcome to make us if them "as seen" and at your own risk.

Lisa and I (Graham) now live in what was our training centre in Melksham - happy to meet with former delegates here - but do check ahead before coming round. We are far from inactive - rather, enjoying the times that we are retired but still healthy enough in mind and body to be active!

I am also active in many other area and still look after a lot of web sites - you can find an index ((here))
Callbacks - a more complex code sandwich

When you write a piece of code, you're normally putting the filling into the sandwich; there's a built-in program in your computer that controls the loading and running of the code thst you've written, and there is a whole library of standard pieces of code that you call to perform the low level operations. So thus you provide the sandwich filling.

A program as simple as
print "Hello World"
(and that will work in Perl, Python or PHP amongst others) illustrates this - the operating systen runs it, and the built in function within the language chosen deals with the detail of output.

But there are a few occasions where the mechanism gets a bit more complex - where one of the functions itself calls BACK to your code. Let's say you're sorting, but you don't want to write your own sort algorithm. How will that work? Well - you can call the sort function but then how do you tell it whether record a comes before or after record b? The easiest answer is to pass the name of a function that you've written to answer just such a question into the language's sort routine and have it callback to your code.

During last week's course, I was describing this mechanism and in order to make it clearer, I wrote my own piece of code to do the sorting ... but then took that out to use Python's own sort routine. I've posted the example up to our longer Python examples - you can see both the version that uses the callback, and my example of what really happens inside.

Callbacks are used in most programming languages, but not usually all that often. Big uses are sorting, and for even handling on GUIs (Graphic User Interfaces).
(written 2007-08-19, updated 2007-08-21)

 
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
Y111 - Python - More on Collections and Sequences
  [61] Python is a fabulous language - (2004-09-24)
  [386] What is a callback? - (2005-07-22)
  [633] Copying a reference, or cloning - (2006-03-05)
  [899] Python - extend v append on a list - (2006-10-20)
  [1304] Last elements in a Perl or Python list - (2007-08-16)
  [1869] Anonymous functions (lambdas) and map in Python - (2008-11-04)
  [1873] List Comprehensions in Python - (2008-11-06)
  [2718] Python - access to variables in the outer scope - (2010-04-12)
  [2894] Sorting people by their names - (2010-07-29)
  [2920] Sorting - naturally, or into a different order - (2010-08-14)
  [2996] Copying - duplicating data, or just adding a name? Perl and Python compared - (2010-10-12)
  [3150] Python dictionaries - mutable and immutable keys and values - (2011-01-29)
  [3348] List slices in Python - 2 and 3 values forms, with an uplifting example - (2011-07-06)
  [3439] Python for loops - applying a temporary second name to the same object - (2011-09-14)
  [3797] zip in Python - (2012-07-05)
  [4398] Accessing variables across subroutine boundaries - Perl, Python, Java and Tcl - (2015-01-18)
  [4442] Mutable v Immuatble objects in Python, and the implication - (2015-02-24)

P307 - Perl/Tk
  [595] Add a friendly front end with Tk - (2006-02-08)
  [596] The magic of -textvariable - (2006-02-08)
  [599] Perl/Tk real time display - (2006-02-10)
  [738] (Perl) Callbacks - what are they? - (2006-05-30)
  [1340] Tk locks up - 100% c.p.u. on a simple program (Tcl, Perl, Python) - (2007-09-09)
  [3009] Expect in Perl - a short explanation and a practical example - (2010-10-22)


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This is a page archived from The Horse's Mouth at http://www.wellho.net/horse/ - the diary and writings of Graham Ellis. Every attempt was made to provide current information at the time the page was written, but things do move forward in our business - new software releases, price changes, new techniques. Please check back via our main site for current courses, prices, versions, etc - any mention of a price in "The Horse's Mouth" cannot be taken as an offer to supply at that price.

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