Local scope in Python - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Understanding Local Scope in Python

📖 Scenario: Imagine you are writing a small program to calculate the area of a rectangle. You want to understand how variables inside a function work and how they are separate from variables outside the function.

🎯 Goal: You will create a function that calculates the area of a rectangle using local variables. You will see how the variables inside the function do not affect variables outside it.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a function with local variables

Use variables inside and outside the function with the same name

Print the values to see the difference between local and global variables

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Understanding local scope helps you write functions that do not accidentally change other parts of your program.

💼 Career

Knowing how to use local variables is essential for writing clean, bug-free code in any programming job.

1

Create a global variable for length

Create a global variable called length and set it to 10.

Python

# Create a global variable called length and set it to 10
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Just write length = 10 to create the variable.

2

Create a function with a local variable

Create a function called calculate_area that has a local variable length set to 5 and a local variable width set to 3.

Python

length = 10
# Create a function called calculate_area with local variables length=5 and width=3
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Define the function with def calculate_area(): and inside it set length = 5 and width = 3.

3

Calculate area inside the function

Inside the calculate_area function, create a local variable area that multiplies length and width.

Python

length = 10

def calculate_area():
    length = 5
    width = 3
    # Calculate area by multiplying length and width
    # Your code here

Need a hint?

Multiply length and width and assign to area.

4

Print local and global variables

Inside the calculate_area function, print area. Outside the function, print the global variable length. Then call the calculate_area function.

Python

length = 10

def calculate_area():
    length = 5
    width = 3
    area = length * width
    # Print the area inside the function
    # Your code here

# Print the global length variable
# Your code here

# Call the calculate_area function
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use print(area) inside the function, print(length) outside, and then call calculate_area().