def foo(param1, *param2):
def bar(param1, **param2):

In [1]: def foo(*args):
   ...:     for a in args:
   ...:         print a
   ...:
   ...:

In [2]: foo(1)
1


In [4]: foo(1,2,3)
1
2
3

In [5]: def bar(**kwargs):
   ...:     for a in kwargs:
   ...:         print a, kwargs[a]
   ...:
   ...:

In [6]: bar(name='one', age=27)
age 27
name one

def foo(kind, *args, **kwargs):
   pass

In [9]: def foo(bar, lee):
   ...:     print bar, lee
   ...:
   ...:

In [10]: l = [1,2]

In [11]: foo(*l)
1 2

first, *rest = [1,2,3,4]
first, *l, last = [1,2,3,4]

def func(arg1, arg2, arg3, *, kwarg1, kwarg2):
    pass

def foo(x,y,z):
    print("x=" + str(x))
    print("y=" + str(y))
    print("z=" + str(z))

>>> mylist = [1,2,3]
>>> foo(*mylist)
x=1
y=2
z=3

>>> mydict = {'x':1,'y':2,'z':3}
>>> foo(**mydict)
x=1
y=2
z=3

>>> mytuple = (1, 2, 3)
>>> foo(*mytuple)
x=1
y=2
z=3

>>> mydict = {'x':1,'y':2,'z':3,'badnews':9}
>>> foo(**mydict)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: foo() got an unexpected keyword argument 'badnews'

def foo(param1, *param2):
    print param1
    print param2

def bar(param1, **param2):
    print param1
    print param2

foo(1,2,3,4,5)
bar(1,a=2,b=3)

1
(2, 3, 4, 5)
1
{'a': 2, 'b': 3}

>>> x = xrange(3) # create our *args - an iterable of 3 integers
>>> xrange(*x)    # expand here
xrange(0, 2, 2)

>>> foo = 'FOO'
>>> bar = 'BAR'
>>> 'this is foo, {foo} and bar, {bar}'.format(**locals())
'this is foo, FOO and bar, BAR'

def foo(arg, kwarg=None, *args, kwarg2=None, **kwargs):
    return arg, kwarg, args, kwarg2, kwargs

>>> foo(1,2,3,4,5,kwarg2='kwarg2', bar='bar', baz='baz')
(1, 2, (3, 4, 5), 'kwarg2', {'bar': 'bar', 'baz': 'baz'})

def foo(arg, kwarg=None, *, kwarg2=None, **kwargs):
    return arg, kwarg, kwarg2, kwargs

>>> foo(1,2,kwarg2='kwarg2', foo='foo', bar='bar')
(1, 2, 'kwarg2', {'foo': 'foo', 'bar': 'bar'})

>>> foo(1,2,3,4,5, kwarg2='kwarg2', foo='foo', bar='bar')
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: foo() takes from 1 to 2 positional arguments
    but 5 positional arguments (and 1 keyword-only argument) were given

def bar(*, kwarg=None):
    return kwarg

>>> bar('kwarg')
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: bar() takes 0 positional arguments but 1 was given

>>> bar(kwarg='kwarg')
'kwarg'

def foo(a, b=10, *args, **kwargs):
    '''
    this function takes required argument a, not required keyword argument b
    and any number of unknown positional arguments and keyword arguments after
    '''
    print('a is a required argument, and its value is {0}'.format(a))
    print('b not required, its default value is 10, actual value: {0}'.format(b))
    # we can inspect the unknown arguments we were passed:
    #  - args:
    print('args is of type {0} and length {1}'.format(type(args), len(args)))
    for arg in args:
        print('unknown arg: {0}'.format(arg))
    #  - kwargs:
    print('kwargs is of type {0} and length {1}'.format(type(kwargs),
                                                        len(kwargs)))
    for kw, arg in kwargs.items():
        print('unknown kwarg - kw: {0}, arg: {1}'.format(kw, arg))
    # But we don't have to know anything about them
    # to pass them to other functions.
    print('Args or kwargs can be passed without knowing what they are.')
    # max can take two or more positional args: max(a, b, c...)
    print('e.g. max(a, b, *args) n{0}'.format(
      max(a, b, *args)))
    kweg = 'dict({0})'.format( # named args same as unknown kwargs
      ', '.join('{k}={v}'.format(k=k, v=v)
                             for k, v in sorted(kwargs.items())))
    print('e.g. dict(**kwargs) (same as {kweg}) returns: n{0}'.format(
      dict(**kwargs), kweg=kweg))

foo(a, b=10, *args, **kwargs)

a is a required argument, and its value is 1
b not required, its default value is 10, actual value: 2
args is of type <type 'tuple'> and length 2
unknown arg: 3
unknown arg: 4
kwargs is of type <type 'dict'> and length 3
unknown kwarg - kw: e, arg: 5
unknown kwarg - kw: g, arg: 7
unknown kwarg - kw: f, arg: 6
Args or kwargs can be passed without knowing what they are.
e.g. max(a, b, *args)
4
e.g. dict(**kwargs) (same as dict(e=5, f=6, g=7)) returns:
{'e': 5, 'g': 7, 'f': 6}

def bar(a):
    b, c, d, e, f = 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
    # dumping every local variable into foo as a keyword argument
    # by expanding the locals dict:
    foo(**locals())

a is a required argument, and its value is 100
b not required, its default value is 10, actual value: 2
args is of type <type 'tuple'> and length 0
kwargs is of type <type 'dict'> and length 4
unknown kwarg - kw: c, arg: 3
unknown kwarg - kw: e, arg: 5
unknown kwarg - kw: d, arg: 4
unknown kwarg - kw: f, arg: 6
Args or kwargs can be passed without knowing what they are.
e.g. max(a, b, *args)
100
e.g. dict(**kwargs) (same as dict(c=3, d=4, e=5, f=6)) returns:
{'c': 3, 'e': 5, 'd': 4, 'f': 6}

def foo(a, b, c, d=0, e=100):
    # imagine this is much more code than a simple function call
    preprocess()
    differentiating_process_foo(a,b,c,d,e)
    # imagine this is much more code than a simple function call
    postprocess()

def bar(a, b, c=None, d=0, e=100, f=None):
    preprocess()
    differentiating_process_bar(a,b,c,d,e,f)
    postprocess()

def baz(a, b, c, d, e, f):
    ... and so on

def decorator(function):
    '''function to wrap other functions with a pre- and postprocess'''
    @functools.wraps(function) # applies module, name, and docstring to wrapper
    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
        # again, imagine this is complicated, but we only write it once!
        preprocess()
        function(*args, **kwargs)
        postprocess()
    return wrapper

@decorator
def foo(a, b, c, d=0, e=100):
    differentiating_process_foo(a,b,c,d,e)

@decorator
def bar(a, b, c=None, d=0, e=100, f=None):
    differentiating_process_bar(a,b,c,d,e,f)

@decorator
def baz(a, b, c=None, d=0, e=100, f=None, g=None):
    differentiating_process_baz(a,b,c,d,e,f, g)

@decorator
def quux(a, b, c=None, d=0, e=100, f=None, g=None, h=None):
    differentiating_process_quux(a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h)

def test(a,b,c):
     print(a)
     print(b)
     print(c)

test(1,2,3)
#output:
1
2
3

def test(a,b,c):
     print(a)
     print(b)
     print(c)

test(a=1,b=2,c=3)
#output:
1
2
3

def test(a=0,b=0,c=0):
     print(a)
     print(b)
     print(c)
     print('-------------------------')

test(a=1,b=2,c=3)
#output :
1
2
3
-------------------------

def test(a=0,b=0,c=0):
    print(a)
    print(b)
    print(c)
    print('-------------------------')

test(1,2,3)
# output :
1
2
3
---------------------------------

def sum(a,b):  #receive args from function calls as sum(1,2) or sum(a=1,b=2)
    print(a+b)

my_tuple = (1,2)
my_list = [1,2]
my_dict = {'a':1,'b':2}

# Let us unpack data structure of list or tuple or dict into arguments with help of '*' operator
sum(*my_tuple)   # becomes same as sum(1,2) after unpacking my_tuple with '*'
sum(*my_list)    # becomes same as sum(1,2) after unpacking my_list with  '*'
sum(**my_dict)   # becomes same as sum(a=1,b=2) after unpacking by '**'

# output is 3 in all three calls to sum function.

def sum(*args): #pack the received positional args into data structure of tuple. after applying '*' - def sum((1,2,3,4))
    sum = 0
    for a in args:
        sum+=a
    print(sum)

sum(1,2,3,4)  #positional args sent to function sum
#output:
10

def sum(**args): #pack keyword args into datastructure of dict after applying '**' - def sum({a:1,b:2,c:3,d:4})
    sum=0
    for k,v in args.items():
        sum+=v
    print(sum)

sum(a=1,b=2,c=3,d=4) #positional args sent to function sum

x = [1, 2, 3]
y = [4, 5, 6]

unzip_x, unzip_y = zip(*zip(x, y))

zip(*zip(x,y)) -> zip((1, 4), (2, 5), (3, 6))

In function *construction*      In function *call*
=======================================================================
          |  def f(*args):                 |  def f(a, b):
*args     |      for arg in args:          |      return a + b
          |          print(arg)            |  args = (1, 2)
          |  f(1, 2)                       |  f(*args)
----------|--------------------------------|---------------------------
          |  def f(a, b):                  |  def f(a, b):
**kwargs  |      return a + b              |      return a + b
          |  def g(**kwargs):              |  kwargs = dict(a=1, b=2)
          |      return f(**kwargs)        |  f(**kwargs)
          |  g(a=1, b=2)                   |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

>>> (0, *range(1, 4), 5, *range(6, 8))
(0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7)
>>> [0, *range(1, 4), 5, *range(6, 8)]
[0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7]
>>> {0, *range(1, 4), 5, *range(6, 8)}
{0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7}
>>> d = {'one': 1, 'two': 2, 'three': 3}
>>> e = {'six': 6, 'seven': 7}
>>> {'zero': 0, **d, 'five': 5, **e}
{'five': 5, 'seven': 7, 'two': 2, 'one': 1, 'three': 3, 'six': 6, 'zero': 0}

>>> range(*[1, 10], *[2])
range(1, 10, 2)

def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
    for attribute_name, value in zip(self._expected_attributes, args):
        setattr(self, attribute_name, value)
        if kwargs.has_key(attribute_name):
            kwargs.pop(attribute_name)

    for attribute_name in kwargs.viewkeys():
        setattr(self, attribute_name, kwargs[attribute_name])

class RetailItem(Item):
    _expected_attributes = Item._expected_attributes + ['name', 'price', 'category', 'country_of_origin']

class FoodItem(RetailItem):
    _expected_attributes = RetailItem._expected_attributes +  ['expiry_date']

food_item = FoodItem(name = 'Jam',
                     price = 12.0,
                     category = 'Foods',
                     country_of_origin = 'US',
                     expiry_date = datetime.datetime.now())

class ElectronicAccessories(RetailItem):
    _expected_attributes = RetailItem._expected_attributes +  ['specifications']
    # Depend on args and kwargs to populate the data as needed.
    def __init__(self, specifications = None, *args, **kwargs):
        self.specifications = specifications  # Rest of attributes will make sense to parent class.
        super(ElectronicAccessories, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)

usb_key = ElectronicAccessories(name = 'Sandisk',
                                price = '$6.00',
                                category = 'Electronics',
                                country_of_origin = 'CN',
                                specifications = '4GB USB 2.0/USB 3.0')

>>> def foo(*arg,**kwargs):
...     print arg
...     print kwargs
>>>
>>> a = (1, 2, 3)
>>> b = {'aa': 11, 'bb': 22}
>>>
>>>
>>> foo(*a,**b)
(1, 2, 3)
{'aa': 11, 'bb': 22}
>>>
>>>
>>> foo(a,**b)
((1, 2, 3),)
{'aa': 11, 'bb': 22}
>>>
>>>
>>> foo(a,b)
((1, 2, 3), {'aa': 11, 'bb': 22})
{}
>>>
>>>
>>> foo(a,*b)
((1, 2, 3), 'aa', 'bb')
{}

class base(object):
    def __init__(self, base_param):
        self.base_param = base_param


class child1(base): # inherited from base class
    def __init__(self, child_param, *args) # *args for non-keyword args
        self.child_param = child_param
        super(child1, self).__init__(*args) # call __init__ of the base class and initialize it with a NON-KEYWORD arg

class child2(base):
    def __init__(self, child_param, **kwargs):
        self.child_param = child_param
        super(child2, self).__init__(**kwargs) # call __init__ of the base class and initialize it with a KEYWORD arg

c1 = child1(1,0)
c2 = child2(1,base_param=0)
print c1.base_param # 0
print c1.child_param # 1
print c2.base_param # 0
print c2.child_param # 1

def args(normal_arg, *argv):
    print ("normal argument:",normal_arg)

    for arg in argv:
        print("Argument in list of arguments from *argv:", arg)

args('animals','fish','duck','bird')

normal argument: animals
Argument in list of arguments from *argv: fish
Argument in list of arguments from *argv: duck
Argument in list of arguments from *argv: bird

def who(**kwargs):
    if kwargs is not None:
        for key, value in kwargs.items():
            print ("Your %s is %s." %(key,value))

who (name="Nikola", last_name="Tesla", birthday = "7.10.1856", birthplace = "Croatia")

Your name is Nikola.
Your last_name is Tesla.
Your birthday is 7.10.1856.
Your birthplace is Croatia.

def f(normal_input, *args, **kw):
    # Print the length of args and kw in a friendly format
    print("len(args) = {} and len(kw) = {}".format(len(args), len(kw)))

l = list(range(5))
d = {"k0":"v0", "k1":"v1"}

f(42, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) # len(args) = 6 and len(kw) = 0

f(42, l) # len(args) = 1 and len(kw) = 0
f(42, d) # len(args) = 1 and len(kw) = 0

f(42, *l) # len(args) = 5 and len(kw) = 0
f(42, *d) # len(args) = 2 and len(kw) = 0

try:
    f(42, **l) # Gives an error
except TypeError:
    print("l in f(**l) is not a dictionary!")

f(42, **d) # len(args) = 0 and len(kw) = 2

# Without explicitly feeding normal_input
# l[0] becomes normal_input
f(*l) # len(args) = 4 and len(kw) = 0

# Let's try everything now
f(42, 420, 4200, *l, **d) # len(args) = 7 and len(kw) = 2