Write a program that has a user defined function to accept 2 numbers as parameters, if number 1 is less than n

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Q. Write a program that has a user defined function to accept 2 numbers as parameters, if number 1 is less than number 2 then numbers are swapped and returned, i.e., number 2 is returned in place of number1 and number 1 is reformed in place of number 2, otherwise the same order is returned.

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Concept understanding — Maximum Element Selection

Maximum Element Selection — The Intuition

Imagine you have a handful of numbers written on slips of paper. You want the biggest one. How do you find it? You look at the first number, call it the "current max." Then you go through the rest one by one: if you see a number bigger than your current max, you replace it. At the end, whatever you're holding is the largest number.

That's the core idea. Maximum element selection is the process of identifying the largest element in a collection — an array, a list, a set — by comparing elements pairwise. It's not a fancy algorithm; it's the most natural thing you'd do with a deck of cards if someone asked "which card has the highest value?"

The Precise Statement

Given a non-empty collection of $n$ elements, each drawn from a set that has a total order (meaning any two elements can be compared, and one is always "greater" or they are equal), the maximum element is the element $M$ such that for every other element $x$ in the collection, $M \geq x$ .

The standard procedure to find it:

Let $M$ be the first element.
For each remaining element $x$ $x$ :
- If $x > M$ , set $M = x$ .
After all elements are processed, $M$ is the maximum.

This takes exactly $n-1$ comparisons in the worst case — you cannot do better because every element except the eventual maximum must lose at least one comparison.

Important

The maximum element is not guaranteed to be unique. If there are ties, any one of the tied largest values qualifies as a maximum. The algorithm above returns the first one encountered.

Why This Matters

Maximum element selection is the simplest building block of many sorting and selection algorithms. Quickselect, heap construction, and tournament methods all rely on this basic operation. It's also the reason you can find the largest number in a list in linear time — no faster method exists because you must at least look at every element once. …

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The function compares the two parameters and swaps them only when the first is smaller, then returns both — Python returns multiple values as a tuple.

def arrange(num1, num2):
    if num1 < num2:
        num1, num2 = num2, num1   # swap
    return num1, num2

a = int(input("Enter number 1: "))
b = int(input("Enter number 2: "))
a, b = arrange(a, b)
print("Number 1 =", a)
print("Number 2 =", b)

Run 1: inputs 5, 9 → Number 1 = 9, Number 2 = 5 (swapped). …

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A user-defined function with two parameters swaps them with tuple assignment num1, num2 = num2, num1 only when num1 < num2, and returns both values (a tuple) so the caller receives them in the possibly-swapped order.

The idea. Python functions can return more than one value — the values travel back as a tuple and can be unpacked directly into two variables. Combined with Python's elegant one-line swap (x, y = y, x, no temporary variable needed), the task becomes tiny.

def arrange(num1, num2):
    """Return (num2, num1) if num1 < num2, else (num1, num2)."""
    if num1 < num2:
        num1, num2 = num2, num1   # swap without a temporary variable
    return num1, num2

a = int(input("Enter number 1: "))
b = int(input("Enter number 2: "))
a, b = arrange(a, b)
print("Number 1 =", a)
print("Number 2 =", b)

Key lines

num1, num2 = num2, num1 — the right side is evaluated first as a tuple (num2, num1), then unpacked; that is why no third variable is needed.
return num1, num2 — returns the tuple (num1, num2); the caller unpacks it with a, b = arrange(a, b).

Expected output

Run 1 (swap happens):

Enter number 1: 5
Enter number 2: 9
Number 1 = 9 …

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Q.Write a program that has a user defined function to accept 2 numbers as parameters, if number 1 is less than number 2 then numbers are swapped and returned, i.e., number 2 is returned in place of number1 and number 1 is reformed in place of number 2, otherwise the same order is returned.

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