Python: passing values from function to function

You need to do:

def firstPass():
    global count

to get the count variable to update.

By using the global keyword you tell the interpreter to load and store the value into the global count variable instead of saving it to a local variable of the same name. For example:

I define two functions, one with and one without using global:

>>> a = 0
>>> def foo():
...   a += 1
...   return a
>>> def bar():
...   global a
...   a += 1
...   return a

After disassembling both functions using the dis module, it becomes apparent what the difference is:

>>> import dis
>>> dis.dis(foo)
  2           0 LOAD_FAST                0 (a)
              3 LOAD_CONST               1 (1)
              6 INPLACE_ADD         
              7 STORE_FAST               0 (a)

  3          10 LOAD_FAST                0 (a)
             13 RETURN_VALUE        

>>> dis.dis(bar)
  3           0 LOAD_GLOBAL              0 (a)
              3 LOAD_CONST               1 (1)
              6 INPLACE_ADD         
              7 STORE_GLOBAL             0 (a)

  4          10 LOAD_GLOBAL              0 (a)
             13 RETURN_VALUE        

Your understanding of return is wrong.

The values returned aren't just inserted back into the namespace of the caller, they have to be received. They don't have to be received with the same name either.

count,a,b = firstPass()

Also I'd suggest passing the current count into the function as a parameter, rather than grabbing it from a global. It's just better style all around, and makes your functions easier to understand.

You probably want to consider using a class. It's a better container for maintaining state.

def firstPass():
    x = 5
    y = 2
    print "Some stuff"
    count = count + 1
    print "Count in firstPass is",count
    return count,x,y        

class MyActivityManager(object):
    def __init__(self):
        """Initialize instance variables"""
        self.run_count = 0

    def run(self):
        if not self.run_count:
            results = firstPass()
            self.run_count += 1
            # consider saving results in the instance for later use
        else:
            # other stuff


if __name__ == "__main__":
    runner = MyActivityManager()
    runner.run()

def firstPass(count):
    x = 5
    y = 2
    print "Some stuff"
    count = count + 1
    print "Count in firstPass is",count
    return count,x,y

def main():
    count = 0 # initialize it here; you're only running main once
    print "Count in main is",count
    if count == 0:
        count, x, y = firstPass(count) # sets the values from firstPass()
    else:
        #Do a whole bunch of other stuff that is NOT supposed to happen on run #1
        #because the other stuff uses user-modified x and y values, and resetting
        #to start value would just be self-defeating.

main()

However, if you want to initialize count outside of main(), use main(count):

#Initialize variables that need to run before we can do any work here
count = 0

def firstPass(count):
    x = 5
    y = 2
    print "Some stuff"
    count = count + 1
    print "Count in firstPass is",count
    return count,x,y

def main (count):
    print "Count in main is",count
    if count == 0:
        firstPass()
    else:
        #Do a whole bunch of other stuff that is NOT supposed to happen on run #1
        #because the other stuff uses user-modified x and y values, and resetting
        #to start value would just be self-defeating.

main(count) # pass it as an argument

However, if you are only calling main() once, you can rewrite your code and general structure like this:

def main():
    count = 0
    count, x, y = firstPass(count) # no need to check if it is 0
    # do everything else

def firstPass(count):
    x, y = 5, 2 # multiple assignment, same as x = 5; y = 2
    print "some stuff"
    count += 1 # shorthand for count = count + 1
    print "Count in firstpass is", count
    return count, x, y

main()