Grok this function to level up your Python

Look at this code:

def itemgetter(key):
    def get_item(dictionary):
        return dictionary[key]
    return get_item

If you'd like to level up your Python... this is a great function to understand.

I'm not even claiming you will write functions like this very often. (Though I do myself, sometimes.) But in order to understand what this function does, you have to grok a few Python pieces people normally don't grok.

Such as:

• The idea of functions being objects, just like any other Python object.
• The nature of a Python variable, and how you can seamlessly park a function object in them.
• Python's memory model. Or, why does Python never segfault?
• What "dynamic" means, and what it doesn't mean, in this phrase: "Python is a dynamic language".

And when you grok all these grokkables...

What happens?

By the way, you use it like this:

codes = {"a": 7, "b": 3, "c": 2}
get_a = itemgetter("a")
print(get_a(codes))

What happens when you grok all these points is this:

You can't help but level up as a dev using Python...

Standing out from the other, un-grokking Python devs.

So get grokking.