Assign pass to a function in Python

Question

I have a piece of code that defines a function that takes a function as an argument, like so:

def stuff(n, f):
  f(n)

Now, I want to provide some default value of f that does nothing. So I figured I'd use pass, like so:

def stuff(n, f = None):
  if(f is None):
    f = pass
  f(n)

But this does not compile. How should I be doing this?

Answer 1

The pass is a keyword for the interpreter, a place holder for otherwise nothing. It's not an object that you can assign. You can use a no-op lambda.

f = lambda x: None

Answer 2

Why not simply this ?

def stuff(n, f=None):
    if f is None:
        return
    return f(n)