A closure is a function object that retains the values of variables that were present in the environment where the function was defined, even if those variables are not in scope when the function is called. In other words, a closure "closes over" the variables from its outer function, and can access and manipulate them even when the outer function has completed execution.
Closures are created in Python when a nested function references a variable from its enclosing function. Here's an example:
Python:
def outer_function(x):
def inner_function(y):
return x + y
return inner_function
closure = outer_function(10)
result = closure(5)
print(result) # Output: 15
In this example, the outer_function defines a nested function inner_function, which references the x parameter from the outer function. When outer_function is called with the argument 10, it returns the inner_function object. This object "closes over" the value of x=10, and can access and manipulate it even after outer_function has completed execution.
The resulting closure object behaves like a regular function, and can be called with a single argument (y), which is added to the "closed over" value of x. When we call closure(5), it returns 15, which is the sum of x=10 and y=5.