python lambda

A lambda function in Python is a small, anonymous function that can be defined without a name. It is also known as an inline function, an anonymous function or a lambda expression.

The syntax for defining a lambda function is as follows:

lambda arguments: expression

Here, `arguments` is a comma-separated list of parameters and `expression` is a single expression that is evaluated and returned by the function.

For example, let's say we want to define a function to add two numbers. We can do it using a lambda function as follows:

add = lambda x, y: x + y

This creates a lambda function that takes two arguments `x` and `y`, and returns their sum. We can then call this function like any other function:

result = add(3, 5)
print(result) # Output: 8

Lambda functions are often used in functional programming and in situations where a function is only needed once or where defining a named function would be cumbersome. They are also commonly used with built-in functions like `map()`, `filter()` and `reduce()`.