Using previous result inside Module

Question

I enjoy using "%" to capture the previous output as it allows me to split big tasks into chunks without having to introduce lots of intermediate variable names. Consider an overly simple example:

x = 2;
x + 4;
%^2;
y = % - 3;
{x, y}
(*{2, 33}*)

How can I accomplish a similar thing inside Module. I naively tried

f[x_] := Module[{y},
  x + 4;
  %^2;
  y = % - 3;
  {x, y}
  ]
f[2]
(*{2, -3 + Null}*)

but that didn't work.

Answer 1

This is not a problem peculiar to Module; % won't work in the way you expect in any function definition because it always refers to the last top-level output. Consider, the much simpler

g[x_] := (x^2; % + 1)

42

42

g[5]

43

g[5]

44

You see that g ignores the previous evaluation of x^2 and returns the last top-level output increased by 1.

My recommendation for those times when you want to compute a complicated expression in steps is to use a single local variable repeatedly. Thus, I would rewrite f as

f[x_] :=
  Module[{y},
    y = x + 4;
    y = y^2;
    y = y - 3;
    {x, y}]

To check that this gives same result as writing the computation as a single expression, I write

h[x_] := {x, (x + 4)^2 - 3}

Then

f[x] == h[x]

gives

True