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What does ** (double star) and * (star) do for python parameters?
I am reading some code that been generated by ZSI for python. There is a line like this
def verifyVehicle(self, request, **kw):
....
I want to know what does this **kw neams. Is this neam a dictionary type? Thanks
It refers to all keyword arguments passed to the function that aren't in the method definition. For example:
>>> def foo(arg, **kwargs):
... print kwargs
...
>>> foo('a', b="2", c="3", bar="bar")
{'c': '3', 'b': '2', 'bar': 'bar'}
It is similar to just using one asterisk, which refers to all non-keyword arguments:
>>> def bar(arg, *args):
... print args
...
>>> bar(1, 2, 3, 'a', 'b')
(2, 3, 'a', 'b')
You can combine these(and people often do)
>>> def foobar(*args, **kwargs):
... print args
... print kwargs
...
>>> foobar(1, 2, a='3', spam='eggs')
(1, 2)
{'a': '3', 'spam': 'eggs'}