*args and **kwargs in a nutshell
Introduction
*kwargs and *args are both ways to pass arguments to a function. They are used in different situations, but they each have their own purpose. In this blog post we’ll go over what they are and how they can be used.
What is *args
The *args and **kwargs are the two main constructs in Python that allow you to pass multiple values to a function. They can be used together with your functions, but they’re also useful on their own.
There’s one important distinction between these two arguments: an *args argument is an object that contains multiple values; whereas a **kwargs argument is just like any other Python list except it has accessors for the names of its variables (in this case).
What is **kwargs
Were can *args and **kwargs be used
- In functions.
- In classes, including metaclasses and class instances.
The global scope has *args and **kwargs as well, so they’re available to all parts of your codebase at once, not just the function you call them in. This can be useful if you want to pass information from one part of your program into another (i.e., passing data between classes).
Additional points
- args and **kwargs are used to pass in a variable number of arguments. They can be used in the function definition or when calling the function.
- args: The first argument is called *args and it contains all remaining arguments after any positional argument has been taken into account.
- You can also use **kwargs instead of *args if you want to pass in other variables along with your function call. In this case, these additional variables will be passed as extra values when calling your function and not as additional positional parameters like they would be if you had only used *args.
Conclusion
So, next time you get confused about the difference between args and kwargs in Python, just remember that when we talk about arguments, we’re talking about a tuple or list of values. And when we talk about kwargs (or keyword arguments), we’re talking about a dictionary. Understanding this simple distinction can help in your day-to-day programming life!
