Python Language Tutorial => Using *args when calling functions

Example

A common use case for *args in a function definition is to delegate processing to either a wrapped or inherited function. A typical example might be in a class's __init__ method

class A(object):
    def __init__(self, b, c):
        self.y = b
        self.z = c

class B(A):
    def __init__(self, a, *args, **kwargs):
        super(B, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
        self.x = a

Here, the a parameter is processed by the child class after all other arguments (positional and keyword) are passed onto - and processed by - the base class.

For instance:

b = B(1, 2, 3)
b.x  # 1
b.y  # 2
b.z  # 3

What happens here is the class B __init__ function sees the arguments 1, 2, 3. It knows it needs to take one positional argument (a), so it grabs the first argument passed in (1), so in the scope of the function a == 1.

Next, it sees that it needs to take an arbitrary number of positional arguments (*args) so it takes the rest of the positional arguments passed in (1, 2) and stuffs them into *args. Now (in the scope of the function) args == [2, 3].

Then, it calls class A's __init__ function with *args. Python sees the * in front of args and "unpacks" the list into arguments. In this example, when class B's __init__ function calls class A's __init__ function, it will be passed the arguments 2, 3 (i.e. A(2, 3)).

Finally, it sets its own x property to the first positional argument a, which equals 1.

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Python Language *args and **kwargs Using *args when calling functions

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