Janete Perez explains Functions with Parameters

(Janet - Zynga Engineer)
Anyone can be a programmer.

You just have to be a little bit adventurous,

be willing to learn, and have a great idea.

To explain functions and parameters,

I can use the example of when you order food for lunch.

So say you're ordering a sandwich and a drink.

Well, the parameters would be

what flavor of drink you want and what size sandwich do you want.

And so in this way,

functions in computers take parameters so that

you can specify how big a shape is

or what color the shape is.

What if we want to draw a bunch of triangles and have

their lengths be different sizes?

Now you can use our function block and input different numbers

so that we can draw different sized shapes.

If you click the star on the draw triangle function,

you can drag input name into input block;

and then if you write

length in the spot where it says X and press Enter.

You'll create a length input for your function.

Then click on the star again to close it out.

Now, you'll want to click on the variables category

and drag the length block into the move
forward block of your function definition.

Drag away the old number block and now
you have a function block

where you can input the length of the sides of your triangle.

This is called a function with parameters.

To use it, click on the functions category

and drag out your draw triangle with length function.

Now you can use the math block to input different numbers

to draw triangles of different sizes.

Give it a try in soon you'll be a coding ninja.