What is the output of the following snippet? def fun(in=2, out=3): return in * out print(fun(3))

Question

Options

• A9
• BThe snippet is erroneous (invalid syntax).
• C6

• A
  83% (35)
• B
  12% (5)
• C
  5% (2)

Explanation

There's an error in this question's answer key - the marked "correct answer" of A (9) is actually wrong.

in is a reserved keyword in Python (used in for x in y and if x in y expressions). Using a reserved keyword as a parameter name causes an immediate SyntaxError - Python will refuse to parse the function definition at all. You can verify this yourself: paste the snippet into any Python interpreter and it will fail before print(fun(3)) is ever reached.

The actual correct answer is B. Option A (9) would only be plausible if the parameter were named something legal like inp - inp=2 with fun(3) would substitute inp=3, out=3, yielding 3*3=9. Option C (6) would apply if the call were fun() with a valid function, giving 2*3=6. Both A and C assume the code runs, which it cannot.

Memory tip: Python's reserved keywords (in, for, while, if, return, class, def, etc.) can never appear as identifiers - not as variable names, function names, or parameter names. If you spot one used that way, the answer is always "SyntaxError."

No community discussion yet for this question.