In Python, function arguments are the values or variables that are passed to a function when it is called. They provide a way to customize the behavior of a function and make it more flexible. Python supports different types of function arguments:
1. Positional Arguments:
Positional arguments are specified in the same order as defined in the function's parameter list. When calling a function, the values for positional arguments are passed in the same order.
def greet(name, age):
print(f"Hello, {name}! You are {age} years old.")
greet("Alice", 25) # Output: Hello, Alice! You are 25 years old.
In the above example, the `name` and `age` parameters of the `greet()` function are positional arguments.
2. Keyword Arguments:
Keyword arguments are specified by name when calling a function. They allow you to pass values to specific parameters regardless of their position.
def greet(name, age):
print(f"Hello, {name}! You are {age} years old.")
greet(age=30, name="Bob") # Output: Hello, Bob! You are 30 years old.
Here, the `name` and `age` arguments are passed using keyword arguments.
3. Default Arguments:
Default arguments are parameters that have a default value specified in the function definition. If a value is not passed for that parameter during the function call, the default value is used.
def greet(name="Anonymous"):
print(f"Hello, {name}!")
greet() # Output: Hello, Anonymous!
greet("Alice") # Output: Hello, Alice!
In the above example, the `name` parameter has a default value of "Anonymous". If no value is provided during the function call, the default value is used.
4. Variable-Length Arguments:
Python allows functions to accept a variable number of arguments. There are two types of variable-length arguments:
args: It allows a function to accept any number of positional arguments as a tuple.
def add_numbers(*args):
total = sum(args)
return total
result = add_numbers(2, 3, 4, 5)
print(result) # Output: 14
In this example, the `*args` parameter collects any number of positional arguments passed to the `add_numbers()` function.
**kwargs: It allows a function to accept any number of keyword arguments as a dictionary.
def print_info(**kwargs):
for key, value in kwargs.items():
print(f"{key}: {value}")
print_info(name="Alice", age=25, city="New York")
# Output:
# name: Alice
# age: 25
# city: New York
The `**kwargs` parameter collects any number of keyword arguments passed to the `print_info()` function.
These different types of function arguments provide flexibility when working with functions and allow you to handle various scenarios and requirements.
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