Passing objects (like lists) vs. primitives (like ints) to a function

playpen1.py

def convert_oneval_to_int(num_to_convert):
    num_to_convert = int(num_to_convert)
    return num_to_convert


def convert_vals_to_int(list_to_convert):
    #list_to_convert = list(list_to_convert)
    # Convert each item in the list to an integer.
    for i in range(len(list_to_convert)):
        list_to_convert[i] = int(list_to_convert[i])

    return list_to_convert


def main():
    my_list = ['987', '12', '234']
    my_number = '10'
    print(my_list)
    my_number_as_int = convert_oneval_to_int(my_number)
    my_list_as_ints = convert_vals_to_int(my_list)
    print(my_list)
    print(my_list_as_ints)

main()