Question

I am a beginning python programmer, but have written several scripts including ones in which I define my own functions and use them. I cannot seem to get any user defined functions to work within the IDLE. Wondering if I am crazy/dumb. Can somebody please explain the following results?Thanks:

def f(x,y):
    solution = x+y
    return solution
f(2,2)
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
>>> a = f(2,2)

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<pyshell#4>", line 1, in <module>
    a = f(2,2)
NameError: name 'f' is not defined

---

def g(x):
    solution = x + 2
    return solution
g(2)
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
>>> a = g(2)

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<pyshell#11>", line 1, in <module>
    a = g(2)
NameError: name 'g' is not defined

Answer 1

Add a blank line after the definition of the function to make the interpreter understand that it’s finished.

>>> def f(x,y):
        solution = x+y
        return solution

>>> f(2,2)
4