The following snippet: def func(a, b): return a ** a print(func(2))

Question

Options

• Awill output 4
• Bwill output 2
• Cis erroneous
• Dwill return None

• A
  8% (2)
• B
  12% (3)
• C
  77% (20)
• D
  4% (1)

Explanation

Option C is correct because func is defined with two parameters (a and b), but is called with only one argument (func(2)). Python raises a TypeError at runtime: "func() missing 1 required positional argument: 'b'", so the program never executes at all.

Why the distractors fail:

• A (output 4) and B (output 2) both assume the function runs successfully - it doesn't, because the missing argument causes a crash before the return line is ever reached. (If it did run with a=2, a ** a would be 2 ** 2 = 4, but the b parameter being unused is a red herring.)
• D (return None) would apply if the function had no return statement - but that's irrelevant here since execution never gets that far.

Memory tip: Always count the commas. If a function signature has one comma (def func(a, b)), it needs two arguments at the call site - one more than the number of commas.

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