Question

Write a function called make_album() that builds a dictionary describing a music album. The function should take in an artist name and an album title, and it should return a dictionary containing these two pieces of information. Use the function to make three dictionaries representing different albums. Print each return value to show that the dictionaries are storing the album information correctly. Add an optional parameter to make_album() that allows you to store the number of tracks on an album. If the calling line includes a value for the number of tracks, add that value to the album’s dictionary. Make at least one new function call that includes the number of tracks on an album.

Short answer

The function `make_album` creates and returns album dictionaries with optional track numbers.

Step-by-step solution

Define the Function

Start by defining the function `make_album` that takes two required parameters: `artist_name` and `album_title`. Also, add a third optional parameter `number_of_tracks` with a default value of `None`.

Build the Dictionary

Inside the function, create a dictionary to store the album details. If `number_of_tracks` is provided and not `None`, include it in the dictionary.

Return the Dictionary

Return the constructed dictionary from the function.

Create First Album

Use the `make_album` function to create a dictionary for the first album. Provide appropriate `artist_name` and `album_title`.

Create Second Album

Call the `make_album` function to create a dictionary for the second album with different `artist_name` and `album_title`.

Create Third Album

Create a third album dictionary by calling `make_album` with another distinct `artist_name` and `album_title`.

Use Optional Parameter

Make an additional function call to `make_album`, this time including the `number_of_tracks`. Provide values for `artist_name`, `album_title`, and `number_of_tracks`.

Print Album Dictionaries

Print each of the created albums' dictionaries to demonstrate that the information is stored correctly.

Key concepts

Dictionaries in Python

Dictionaries are an incredibly useful and foundational data type in Python, providing a convenient way to store and organize data. A dictionary consists of key-value pairs, similar to how you might list a word and its definition in a real dictionary. For instance, in the exercise about music albums, each album was represented as a dictionary where:

• The artist's name and album title were stored as keys, such as "artist_name" and "album_title".
• These keys were associated with values, such as the name of the artist and the title of the album.

To create a dictionary in Python, you use curly braces `{}`. Inside, you specify pairs, joining keys and their corresponding values using colons. For example: ```python album = {"artist_name": "The Beatles", "album_title": "Abbey Road"} ``` Dictionaries are versatile as they allow you to easily retrieve, update, add, or delete key-value pairs. Moreover, they offer significant flexibility as the values can be of any datatype, from strings and numbers to even other dictionaries.
They are especially powerful when you need to represent data that has multiple attributes or properties, as seen with the music albums where each album had multiple descriptors.

Optional Parameters

In Python functions, optional parameters provide flexibility for both the developer and the user of the function. They allow you to call a function without always providing all arguments. This is done by assigning a default value to a parameter when defining the function. If the caller does not provide a value for that parameter, the function uses the default. Setting an optional parameter is easy; you simply assign it a default value in the function definition. In the exercise, the `make_album` function's `number_of_tracks` parameter was optional, defaulting to `None` if not provided: ```python def make_album(artist_name, album_title, number_of_tracks=None): ``` This means the user could create a simple album dictionary with just the artist's name and album title, but they had the option to also include the number of tracks if they wished. This approach is very useful because it makes functions more adaptable and user-friendly. It allows functions to handle a variety of situations without alterations to the main logic structure, thus saving time and reducing errors.

Function Parameters

Function parameters in Python define what inputs a function can accept and utilize. When a function is called, these parameters dictate the kind of data the function works with. This is crucial because it sets the stage for the function's behavior In the `make_album` function, three parameters were defined: `artist_name`, `album_title`, and `number_of_tracks`.
Parameters are specified in the function's signature, which looks something like this: ```python def make_album(artist_name, album_title, number_of_tracks=None): ```

• `artist_name` and `album_title` are required parameters. When invoking this function, you must provide these values.
• `number_of_tracks` is an optional parameter, as we've discussed, meaning you can omit this argument, and the function will still run correctly.

These parameters act as variables within the function, holding the values passed during the call, thus allowing the function to process and return desired outputs. By understanding function parameters, developers can design more efficient and adaptable code, letting functions perform their tasks with the given inputs in varying contexts.