Methods with return values in Python - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Methods with return values

📖 Scenario: You are creating a simple calculator program that can add two numbers and return the result.

🎯 Goal: Build a method that takes two numbers, adds them, and returns the sum. Then use this method to get the result and print it.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a method named add_numbers that takes two parameters: a and b.

The method add_numbers should return the sum of a and b.

Call the method add_numbers with two numbers and store the result in a variable named result.

Print the value of result.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Methods that return values are used in calculators, games, and many apps to perform tasks and give back results.

💼 Career

Understanding how to write and use methods with return values is a key skill for software developers to create reusable and organized code.

1

Create two number variables

Create two variables called num1 and num2 and set them to 5 and 7 respectively.

Python

# Create variables num1 and num2 with values 5 and 7
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use = to assign values to variables.

2

Define the add_numbers method

Define a method named add_numbers that takes two parameters called a and b. The method should return the sum of a and b.

Python

num1 = 5
num2 = 7

# Define the add_numbers method below
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use def to define a method and return to send back the result.

3

Call the add_numbers method and store the result

Call the method add_numbers with num1 and num2 as arguments. Store the returned value in a variable called result.

Python

num1 = 5
num2 = 7

def add_numbers(a, b):
    return a + b

# Call add_numbers with num1 and num2 and store in result
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Call the method by writing its name and passing the variables inside parentheses.

4

Print the result

Print the value of the variable result to display the sum of the two numbers.

Python

num1 = 5
num2 = 7

def add_numbers(a, b):
    return a + b

result = add_numbers(num1, num2)

# Print the result
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use print(result) to show the sum on the screen.