Question: I'm trying to write a function in python that is like:

```
def repeated(f, n):
    ...

```

where `f` is a function that takes one argument and `n` is a positive integer.

For example if I defined square as:

```
def square(x):
    return x * x

```

and I called

```
repeated(square, 2)(3)

```

this would square 3, 2 times.

Answer: 
That should do it:

```
 def repeated(f, n):
     def rfun(p):
         return reduce(lambda x, _: f(x), xrange(n), p)
     return rfun

 def square(x):
     print "square(%d)" % x
     return x * x

 print repeated(square, 5)(3)

```

output:

```
 square(3)
 square(9)
 square(81)
 square(6561)
 square(43046721)
 1853020188851841

```

or `lambda`-less?

```
def repeated(f, n):
    def rfun(p):
        acc = p
        for _ in xrange(n):
            acc = f(acc)
        return acc
    return rfun

```
I think you want function composition:

```
def compose(f, x, n):
  if n == 0:
    return x
  return compose(f, f(x), n - 1)

def square(x):
  return pow(x, 2)

y = compose(square, 3, 2)
print y

```