On Sun, Jan 30, 2011 at 11:26 AM, sl33k_ <ahsanbag...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi, > > I am struggling to grasp this concept about def foo(*args).
The interactive interpreter is your friend! Try experimenting with it next time! http://docs.python.org/tutorial/controlflow.html#arbitrary-argument-lists That `def` defines a variadic function; i.e. a function which takes an arbitrary number of positional arguments. `args` will be a tuple of all the positional arguments passed to the function: >>> def foo(*args): ... print args ... >>> foo(1) (1,) >>> foo(1,2) (1, 2) >>> foo(1,2,3) (1, 2, 3) If positional parameters precede the *-parameter, then they are required and the *-parameter will receive any additional arguments: >>> def qux(a, b, *args): ... print 'a is', a ... print 'b is', b ... print 'args is', args ... >>> qux(1) Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module> TypeError: qux() takes at least 2 arguments (1 given) >>> qux(1, 2) a is 1 b is 2 args is () >>> qux(1, 2, 3) a is 1 b is 2 args is (3,) >>> qux(1, 2, 3, 4) a is 1 b is 2 args is (3, 4) > Also, what is def bar(*args, *kwargs)? You meant: def bar(*args, **kwargs) See http://docs.python.org/tutorial/controlflow.html#keyword-arguments Basically, the **-parameter is like the *-parameter, except for keyword arguments instead of positional arguments. > Also, can the terms method and function be used interchangeably? No. A method is function that is associated with an object (normally via a class) and takes this object as its first argument (typically named "self"). A function does not have any of these requirements. Thus, all method are functions, but the reverse is not true. (I'm ignoring complexities like classmethods and staticmethods for simplicity.) Cheers, Chris -- http://blog.rebertia.com -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
