Parameters to Python functions / methods are (by default) position dependent. If you def a function with 2 parameters, and call it with two, the first incoming address is taken as being the incoming address saved accessed through the first variable, and the second incoming address is taken as being the incoming address accessed through the second variable.

Thus
  def pax(npacks,njokers)
and
  canasta = pax(2,nj)
will pass the value 2 into npacks, and it will pass nj into njokers. Pedantically speaking, you're passing addresses - so if you were to pass in a list or something else that's muttable (changeable in situ), a change to the object within the function will change the object in the calling code too. Where the value passed in the result of a calculation, it will be saved in a temporary object so changes won't effect anything in the calling code, and where it's a constant passed in, that's going to be immutable so a fresh object at a new address will be created if you should change it - thus not altering the constant value in the caling code.

Where you are calling an object method rather than a function in Python, you'll have the object on which the method is called picked up as the first parameter, so the function declaration will appear to have one more parameter than the call (it hasn't really - the first parameter in the calling syntax is outside the brackets:
  def morepeeps(this,that):
and
  larger = bertie.morepeeps(thomas)

You can specify default values for parameters too - by giving an assignment of a default value in the declaration:
  def pax(npacks=gdv(),njokers=0):
so now pax called with 2 parameters sets npacks and njokers to values in the call, with one parameter sets npacks to that value and sets njokers to 0, and without parameters sets njokers to 0 and npacks to the result of running the gdv function.

You are also allowed to call by name to fill specific parameters:
  crackle = pax(njokers=2)
There are examples of calls as I've described so far in a complete demo program [here].

Definitions may include as their very last parameter a parameter who's name is preceeeded by ** - and that's a dictionary that mops up all remaining named parameters that the function has been called with, and as their last parameter (except for any ** one) they may be given the name of a list that will pick up any other unnamed parameters. So you may end up with a call like:
  demofunc(values,34,65,44,43,34,22,ice="solid",water="liquid")
being collected into a function defined like
  def demofunc(must, may=15, *others, **named):
Full sample - [here].

Finally, note that a function may return a comma separated tuple of values which you may pick up in your calling code into multiple variables - flexible stuff!
  tom, dick = demofunc(values)
may be used to call a function with a return line like
  return may/2, may+2
(written 2011-05-07)

 Y105 - Python - Functions, Modules and Packages
  [96] Variable Scope - (2004-10-22)
  [105] Distance Learning - (2004-10-31)
  [294] Python generator functions, lambdas, and iterators - (2005-04-28)
  [303] Lambdas in Python - (2005-05-06)
  [308] Call by name v call by value - (2005-05-11)
  [340] Code and code maintainance efficiency - (2005-06-08)
  [386] What is a callback? - (2005-07-22)
  [418] Difference between import and from in Python - (2005-08-18)
  [561] Python's Generator functions - (2006-01-11)
  [668] Python - block insets help with documentation - (2006-04-04)
  [745] Python modules. The distribution, The Cheese Shop and the Vaults of Parnassus. - (2006-06-05)
  [749] Cottage industry or production line data handling methods - (2006-06-07)
  [775] Do not duplicate your code - (2006-06-23)
  [821] Dynamic functions and names - Python - (2006-08-03)
  [900] Python - function v method - (2006-10-20)
  [912] Recursion in Python - (2006-11-02)
  [913] Python - A list of methods - (2006-11-03)
  [949] Sludge off the mountain, and Python and PHP - (2006-11-27)
  [959] It's the 1st, not the 1nd 1rd or 1th. - (2006-12-01)
  [1134] Function / method parameters with * and ** in Python - (2007-04-04)
  [1163] A better alternative to cutting and pasting code - (2007-04-26)
  [1202] Returning multiple values from a function (Perl, PHP, Python) - (2007-05-24)
  [1464] Python Script - easy examples of lots of basics - (2007-12-08)
  [1784] Global - Tcl, PHP, Python - (2008-09-03)
  [1790] Sharing variables with functions, but keeping them local too - Python - (2008-09-09)
  [1869] Anonymous functions (lambdas) and map in Python - (2008-11-04)
  [1870] What to do with a huge crop of apples - (2008-11-04)
  [1871] Optional and named parameters in Python - (2008-11-05)
  [1879] Dynamic code - Python - (2008-11-11)
  [2011] Conversion of OSI grid references to Eastings and Northings - (2009-01-28)
  [2439] Multiple returns from a function in Python - (2009-10-06)
  [2440] Optional parameters to Python functions - (2009-10-07)
  [2481] Sample code with errors in it on our web site - (2009-10-29)
  [2506] Good example of recursion in Python - analyse an RSS feed - (2009-11-18)
  [2520] Global and Enable - two misused words! - (2009-11-30)
  [2718] Python - access to variables in the outer scope - (2010-04-12)
  [2766] Optional and named parameters to Python functions/methods - (2010-05-15)
  [2878] Program for reliability and efficiency - do not duplicate, but rather share and re-use - (2010-07-19)
  [2929] Passing a variable number of parameters in to a function / method - (2010-08-20)
  [2994] Python - some common questions answered in code examples - (2010-10-10)
  [2998] Using an exception to initialise a static variable in a Python function / method - (2010-10-13)
  [3159] Returning multiple values from a function call in various languages - a comparison - (2011-02-06)
  [3459] Catching the fishes first? - (2011-09-27)
  [3464] Passing optional and named parameters to python methods - (2011-10-04)
  [3472] Static variables in functions - and better ways using objects - (2011-10-10)
  [3474] Python Packages - groupings of modules. An introduction - (2011-10-11)
  [3662] Finding all the unique lines in a file, using Python or Perl - (2012-03-20)
  [3695] Functions are first class variables in Lua and Python - (2012-04-13)
  [3766] Python timing - when to use a list, and when to use a generator - (2012-06-16)
  [3852] Static variables in Python? - (2012-08-29)
  [3885] Default local - a good choice by the author of Python - (2012-10-08)
  [3931] Optional positional and named parameters in Python - (2012-11-23)
  [3945] vargs in Python - how to call a method with unknown number of parameters - (2012-12-06)
  [4029] Exception, Lambda, Generator, Slice, Dict - examples in one Python program - (2013-03-04)
  [4161] Python varables - checking existance, and call by name or by value? - (2013-08-27)
  [4212] Python functions - an introduction to how they work - (2013-11-16)
  [4361] Multiple yields and no loops in a Python generator? - (2014-12-22)
  [4407] Python - even named code blocks are objects - (2015-01-28)
  [4410] A good example of recursion - a real use in Python - (2015-02-01)
  [4441] Reading command line parameters in Python - (2015-02-23)
  [4448] What is the difference between a function and a method? - (2015-03-04)
  [4645] What are callbacks? Why use them? An example in Python - (2016-02-11)
  [4662] Recursion in Python - the classic example - (2016-03-07)
  [4719] Nesting decorators - (2016-11-02)
  [4722] Embedding more complex code into a named block - (2016-11-04)
  [4724] From and Import in Python - where is the module loaded from? - (2016-11-06)

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What to do in the evening during a Tcl course
The juggler
The future of canal management and charities - Kennet and Avon Canal bias
Does Well House Manor Hotel in Melksham offer lots of discounts?
Passing parameters to Python functions - the options you have
Letter to The Editor
Do I need to initialise variables - programming in C, C++, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby or Java.
Between a rock and a hard place.
International travel to the UK - coming to Melksham
Melksham Chamber of Commerce - grows to appoint new Press Officer. Welcome. Sam