Flow of execution can be defined as the order in which the statements in a program are executed. The Python interpreter starts executing the instructions in a program from the first statement. The statements are executed one by one, in the order of appearance from top to bottom.
When the interpreter encounters a function definition, the statements inside the function are not executed until the function is called. Later, when the interpreter encounters a function call, there is a little deviation in the flow of execution. In that case, instead of going to the next statement, the control jumps to the called function and executes the statement of that function. After that, the control comes back the point of function call so that the remaining statements in the program can be executed. Therefore, when we read a program, we should not simply read from top to bottom. Instead, we should follow the flow of control or execution. It is also important to note that a function must be defined before its call within a program.
The error ‘function not defined’ is produced even though the function has been defined. When a function call is encountered, the control has to jump to the function definition and execute it. In the above program, since the function call precedes the function definition, the interpreter does not find the function definition and hence an error is raised.
That is why, the function definition should be made before the function call as shown below:
def helloPython(): #Function definition
print("I love Programming")
helloPython() #Function Call
Figure. explains the flow of execution for two programs. The number in square brackets shows the order of execution of the statements.
Order of execution of statements
