function f from a set X to a set Y is an assignment of one element of Y to each element of X.
The set X is called the
domain of the function and the set Y is called the codomain of the function.
If the element y in Y is assigned to x in Xby the function f, one says that f maps x to y, and this is commonly written
In this notation, x is the argument or variable of the function.
A specific element x of X is a value of the variable, and the corresponding element of Y is the value of the function at
x, or the image of x under the function. The image of a function, sometimes called its range, is the set of the images of
all elements in the domain.[6][7][8][9]
A function f, its domain X, and its codomain Y are often specified by the notation One may write instead of , where
the symbol (read 'maps to') is used to specify where a particular element x in the domain is mapped to by f. This allows
the definition of a function without naming. For example, the square function is the function
The domain and codomain are not always explicitly given when a function is defined. In particular, it is common that
one might only know, without some (possibly difficult) computation, that the domain of a specific function is contained
in a larger set. For example, if is a real function, the determination of the domain of the function requires knowing the
zeros of f. This is one of the reasons for which, in mathematical analysis, "a function from X to Y " may refer to a
function having a proper subset of X as a domain.[note 2] For example, a "function from the reals to the reals" may
refer to a real-valued function of a real variable whose domain is a proper subset of the real numbers, typically a subset
that contains a non-empty open interval. Such a function is then called a partial function.
A function f on a set S means a function from the domain S, without specifying a codomain. However, some authors
use it as shorthand for saying that the function is f : S → S.
function f from a set X to a set Y is an assignment of one element of Y to each element of X. The set X
is called the domain of the function and the set Y is called the codomain of the function.
If the element y in Y is assigned to x in Xby the function f, one says that f maps x to y, and this is
commonly written In this notation, x is the argument or variable of the function.
A specific element x of X is a value of the variable, and the corresponding element of Y is the value of the
function at x, or the image of x under the function. The image of a function, sometimes called its range, is
the set of the images of all elements in the domain.[6][7][8][9]
A function f, its domain X, and its codomain Y are often specified by the notation One may write instead
of , where the symbol (read 'maps to') is used to specify where a particular element x in the domain is
mapped to by f. This allows the definition of a function without naming. For example, the square function is
the function
The domain and codomain are not always explicitly given when a function is defined. In particular, it is
common that one might only know, without some (possibly difficult) computation, that the domain of a
specific function is contained in a larger set. For example, if is a real function, the determination of the
domain of the function requires knowing the zeros of f. This is one of the reasons for which, in
mathematical analysis, "a function from X to Y " may refer to a function having a proper subset of X as a
domain.[note 2] For example, a "function from the reals to the reals" may refer to a real-valued function of
a real variable whose domain is a proper subset of the real numbers, typically a subset that contains a non-
empty open interval. Such a function is then called a partial function.
A function f on a set S means a function from the domain S, without specifying a codomain. However,
some authors use it as shorthand for saying that the function is f : S → S.