Python Variable Length Arguments

Python variable length arguments

Created By: chatGPT

In Python, you can handle variable-length arguments using args and kwargs. The args is used for passing a variable number of non-keyword arguments to a function, while kwargs lets you pass a variable number of keyword arguments. Here's how you can use them:

def my_function(*args, **kwargs):
    print('Positional arguments:', args)
    print('Keyword arguments:', kwargs)

When you call my_function, you can pass any number of positional and keyword arguments. Here's an example:

my_function(1, 2, 3, name='Alice', age=30)
# Output:
# Positional arguments: (1, 2, 3)
# Keyword arguments: {'name': 'Alice', 'age': 30}

The args is treated as a tuple, while kwargs is treated as a dictionary. This means you can easily loop through them in your function. For example, you can do the following:

def my_function(*args, **kwargs):
    for arg in args:
        print('Arg:', arg)
    for key, value in kwargs.items():
        print(f'Key: {key}, Value: {value}')

Now, if you call the function again, you will see how it handles each argument:

my_function(1, 2, 3, name='Alice', age=30)
# Output:
# Arg: 1
# Arg: 2
# Arg: 3
# Key: name, Value: Alice
# Key: age, Value: 30

You can also combine regular parameters with *args and **kwargs. For example:

def my_function(a, b, *args, **kwargs):
    print('a:', a)
    print('b:', b)
    print('Other positional args:', args)
    print('Keyword args:', kwargs)

Call the function with fixed and variable arguments:

my_function(10, 20, 30, 40, name='Alice', age=30)
# Output:
# a: 10
# b: 20
# Other positional args: (30, 40)
# Keyword args: {'name': 'Alice', 'age': 30}

Using variable-length arguments can make your functions more flexible and dynamic, allowing you to handle a wide range of input scenarios.