Question

What is lambda in Python? Why is it used?

Answer 1

Lambda is an anonymous function in Python, that can accept any number of arguments, but can only have a single expression. It is generally used in situations requiring an anonymous function for a short time period. Lambda functions can be used in either of the two ways:

• Assigning lambda functions to a variable

  mul = lambda a, b : a * b
  print(mul(2, 5))    # output => 10
  

• Wrapping lambda functions inside another function

  def myWrapper(n):
    return lambda a : a * n
  
  mulFive = myWrapper(5)
  print(mulFive(2))    # output => 10