High-Order Functions in Python: Passing Functions as Arguments

A high-order function in programming is a function that can either take other functions as arguments or return a function as its result, or both. This concept is closely related to first-class functions, which are treated like any other variable in a language (can be stored in a variable, passed as an argument to a function, or used in control statements). High-order functions are a key feature in functional programming, enabling more abstract or general-purpose code, facilitating code reuse, and making it easier to manipulate functions or data.

def square(x):

return x * x

numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

squared_numbers = map(square, numbers)

# Convert the map object to a list

squared_numbers_list = list(squared_numbers)

print(squared_numbers_list)


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def square(x):
    return x * x

numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
squared_numbers = map(square, numbers)

# Convert the map object to a list
squared_numbers_list = list(squared_numbers)
print(squared_numbers_list)

A classic example of a high-order function is the map function in Python. This function takes two arguments: a function and an iterable (like a list). It applies the given function to each item of the iterable and returns a map object (which can be easily converted into a list or another iterable type).

In this example:

square is a simple function that squares its input.
map is the high-order function that takes square and a list of numbers as arguments.
The result is each number in the list numbers squared.

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Suppose you have a list of temperatures in Celsius, and you want to convert all of them to Fahrenheit. The goal will be to apply a custom transformation to each element in the list using map.

Create a list of numeric values representing temperatures in Celsius.
Define a function that converts a temperature from Celsius to Fahrenheit.
Apply the custom function to each element in the list using map.
Convert the result from map into a list and print it to see the converted temperatures.