Function passed as an argument returns none

[Mark Lawrence]

On 01/10/2014 23:37, Shiva wrote:
> Hi,
> I am learning Python (version 3.4) strings.I have a function that takes in a
> parameter and prints it out as given below.
>
> def donuts(count):
>    if count <= 5:
>      print('Number of donuts: ',count)
>    else:
>      print('Number of donuts: many')
>      return
>
> It works fine if I call
> donuts(5)
>
> It returns:
> we have 5 DN  (as expected)

It doesn't :)  As it takes the first path through the function it will 
*print* 'Number of donuts: 5' and then return None as you haven't 
specified what your function returns.

>
> However if I do :
>
> test(donuts(4), 'Number of donuts: 4')
>
>
> where test is defined as below:
>
> def test(got, expected):
>    print('got: ', got, 'Expected:' ,expected)
>    if got == expected:
>      prefix = ' OK '
>    else:
>      prefix = '  X '
>    print (('%s got: %s expected: %s') % (prefix, repr(got), repr(expected)))
>
>
> Only 'None' gets passed on to parameter 'got' instead of the expected value
> of 4.

Your expectations are wrong, your function makes no attempt to return 
the value you've passed in.  I'd (re)read the tutorial again and digest 
it, then have another go.

> Any idea why 'None' is getting passed even though calling the donuts(4)
> alone returns the expected value?

What is your expected value?  My expected value is None for a value of 4 
as you've given a return statement without specifying a value.

-- 
My fellow Pythonistas, ask not what our language can do for you, ask
what you can do for our language.

Mark Lawrence