Function params with **? what do these mean?

[Dave Hansen]

On 20 Mar 2006 15:45:36 -0800 in comp.lang.python,
aahz at pythoncraft.com (Aahz) wrote:

>In article <r56u12pb4ajvhshvh40slb80di1bfeiagr at 4ax.com>,
>Dave Hansen  <iddw at hotmail.com> wrote:
[...]
>>It's harder to explain than understand.  Try playing with the
>>following function in the python interpreter:
>>
>>   def test(a,b='b', *c, **d):
>>      print a,b,c,d
>
>Personally, I think it's a Good Idea to stick with the semi-standard
>names of *args and **kwargs to make searching easier...

Agreed (though "kwargs" kinda makes my skin crawl).  I don't use these
features often in my code, but when I do, I follow the convention. The
example was just for illustrative purposes, and the names chosen for
easy typing.

It is important to note that using "args" and "kwargs" is a convention
rather than a requirement, analogous to "self".  You can use different
identifiers, but future maintainers of your code will be annoyed.

But it won't affect the operation of the code.  I found the test case
"test(a=1,b=2,c=3,d=4)" to be most edifying.  

Regards,
                                        -=Dave

-- 
Change is inevitable, progress is not.