Python Function Arguments
Arguments are the values passed inside the parenthesis of the function. A function
can have any number of arguments separated by a comma.
In this example, we will create a simple function in Python to check whether the
number passed as an argument to the function is even or odd.
# A simple Python function to check
# whether x is even or odd
def evenOdd(x):
if (x % 2 == 0):
print("even")
else:
print("odd")
# Driver code to call the function
evenOdd(2)
evenOdd(3)
Types of Python Function Arguments
Python supports various types of arguments that can be passed at the time of the function
call. In Python, we have the following function argument types in Python:
Default argument
Keyword arguments (named arguments)
Positional arguments
Arbitrary arguments (variable-length arguments *args and **kwargs)
Default Arguments
A default argument is a parameter that assumes a default value if a value is not
provided in the function call for that argument. The following example illustrates Default
arguments to write functions in Python.
# Python program to demonstrate
# default arguments
def myFun(x, y=50):
print("x: ", x)
print("y: ", y)
# Driver code (We call myFun() with only
# argument)
myFun(10)
Output:
x: 10
y: 50
Keyword Arguments
The idea is to allow the caller to specify the argument name with values so that the
caller does not need to remember the order of parameters.
# Python program to demonstrate Keyword Arguments
def student(firstname, lastname):
print(firstname, lastname)
# Keyword arguments
student(firstname='Geeks', lastname='Practice')
student(lastname='Practice', firstname='Geeks')
Positional Arguments
We used the Position argument during the function call so that the first argument
(or value) is assigned to name and the second argument (or value) is assigned to age. By
changing the position, or if you forget the order of the positions, the values can be used in
the wrong places, as shown in the Case-2 example below, where 27 is assigned to the name
and Suraj is assigned to the age.
def nameAge(name, age):
print("Hi, I am", name)
print("My age is ", age)
# You will get correct output because
# argument is given in order
print("Case-1:")
nameAge("Suraj", 27)
# You will get incorrect output because
# argument is not in order
print("\nCase-2:")
nameAge(27, "Suraj")
Output:
Case-1:
Hi, I am Suraj
My age is 27
Case-2:
Hi, I am 27
My age is Suraj
Arbitrary Keyword Arguments
In Python Arbitrary Keyword Arguments, *args, and **kwargs can pass a variable
number of arguments to a function using special symbols. There are two special symbols:
*args in Python (Non-Keyword Arguments)
**kwargs in Python (Keyword Arguments)
Example 1: Variable length non-keywords argument
# Python program to illustrate
# *args for variable number of arguments
def myFun(*argv):
for arg in argv:
print(arg)
myFun('Hello', 'Welcome', 'to', 'GeeksforGeeks')
Output:
Hello
Welcome
to
GeeksforGeeks
Example 2: Variable length keyword arguments
# Python program to illustrate
# *kwargs for variable number of keyword arguments
def myFun(**kwargs):
for key, value in kwargs.items():
print("%s == %s" % (key, value))
# Driver code
myFun(first='Geeks', mid='for', last='Geeks')
Output:
first == Geeks
mid == for
last == Geeks
