is there some syntax mechanist to write a function definitions after writing the function call in python?

Question

The function hoisting in javascript allows us to do this thing, which is awesome to the code readability:

function f(a,b){
    return divide(a,b)*a
    
    function divide(a,b){
        return a/b
    }
}

Haskell allows us to do something like this with the "where". Does python has any syntax mechanism that allows this?

Does this answer your question? [Declare function at end of file in Python](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3754240/declare-function-at-end-of-file-in-python) — ChrisGPT was on strike, Dec 13 '20 at 04:15
I don't think this is really a duplicate of that question, although the solution does apply - however, where defining a `main()` and calling it at the end is a common pattern in Python, doing it in a function is a bad idea, as shown below. — Grismar, Dec 13 '20 at 04:26

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 13 '20 at 04:24

There's no hoisting of the type you're looking for.

Python does some hoisting, for example variables that are declared in a block (like the for loop variable) are hoisted to the scope the block is in.

But you cannot reference a variable (or other name, like a function) before it has been assigned or defined.

If you want to have that order of code, this a way around it, but it hardly helps readability:

def f(a, b):
    def _f():
        return divide(a, b)*a

    def divide(a, b):
        return a / b
    return _f()


print(f(10, 5))
}

More in general, don't try to force the conventions of one language on another - use the language that has the conventions you like, or learn the conventions of the language you use. Other coders reading your code (including future you) will thank you.

is there some syntax mechanist to write a function definitions after writing the function call in python?

1 Answers1