[Tutor] Equivalent of a Subroutine in Python?

[Deirdre Saoirse]

As this is really a tutor question, I'm cutting the extra parts and
re-posting the meat to the Tutor list (list mom's prerogative):

(And yes, I'd rather responses went to the list; others are struggling
with the same kinds of things and NOT posting...)

On Thu, 1 Feb 2001, Seelinger, Bruce wrote:

> I wanted to use values obtained in subroutines or functions as you are
> allowed in DCL.  For example, one subroutine determines the hardware
> type of unit based on data imported from a file.  Once that subroutine
> determines the hardware type, it is assigned to a variable (hw_type)
> and is used by other subroutines for purposes unique to that hardware
> type.  I think the underlying issue is the my logic and design will
> need to be modified to adhere to Python's rules.

In calling a function, you can pass one or more parameters to it. Unlike
may other languages, you can also return multiple parameters.

def readFile(fname):
	... do some stuff...
	hw_type = (something from the file)
	hw_info = (something else from the file)
	return hw_type, hw_info

def main():
	hw_type, hw_info = readFile("foo")

There's also more complex structures; see:
http://www.python.org/doc/current/tut/node7.html#SECTION007400000000000000000

_Deirdre