Count number of function calls for distinct input argument values

Question

With the code

def myfunction():
    myfunction.counter += 1
myfunction.counter = 0

from https://stackoverflow.com/a/21717084/2729627 you can keep track of the number of times the function is called.

But how do I keep track of the number of times a function is called when (one of) its input arguments takes on a certain value?

So for instance

def myfunction(a):

    # Do some calculations...
    b = a**2

    # Increase counter for specific value of 'a'.
    myfunction.counter[a] += 1

    #  Return output argument.
    return b

myfunction.counter[5] = 0
myfunction.counter[79648763] = 0

print(myfunction.counter[5])
print(myfunction.counter[79648763])

myfunction(5)
myfunction(79648763)
myfunction(79648763)

print(myfunction.counter[5])  # Should return 1.
print(myfunction.counter[79648763])  # Should return 2.

How should I modify this code to get it to work?

Taohidul Islam · Answer 1 · 2018-06-21T08:40:21.800

You can use a dictionary to keep this information:

    counter_dict={} #new line
    def myfunction(a):

        b = a**2

        if a in counter_dict.keys():
            counter_dict[a] = counter_dict[a]+1 #increment the previous value
        else:
            counter_dict[a] = 1 #if the value is not present then initialize it with 1

        return b

    myfunction(5)
    myfunction(79648763)
    myfunction(79648763)

    print(counter_dict[5])  # Should return 1.
    print(counter_dict[79648763])  # Should return 2.

If you don't want to use global dict then you can write this:

def myfunction(a):
    b = a**2
    if a in myfunction.my_dict.keys():
        myfunction.my_dict[a] = myfunction.my_dict[a]+1
    else:
        myfunction.my_dict[a] = 1

    return b

myfunction.my_dict={}
myfunction(5)
myfunction(79648763)
myfunction(79648763)

print(myfunction.my_dict[5])
print(myfunction.my_dict[79648763])

Count number of function calls for distinct input argument values

1 Answers1