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Expand and Pass a List and Dictionary As Arguments in Python

Modified: | Tags: Python, List, Dictionary

In Python, you can expand a list, tuple, and dictionary (dict) and pass their elements as arguments by prefixing a list or tuple with an asterisk (*), and prefixing a dictionary with two asterisks (**) when calling functions.

Contents

For a basic understanding of Python functions, default parameter values, and variable-length arguments using * and ** during function definition, refer to the following articles.

Expand a list and tuple with *

By specifying a list or tuple prefixed with * as an argument, it is expanded, and each element is passed as a separate argument.

def func(arg1, arg2, arg3):
    print('arg1 =', arg1)
    print('arg2 =', arg2)
    print('arg3 =', arg3)

l = ['one', 'two', 'three']

func(*l)
# arg1 = one
# arg2 = two
# arg3 = three

func(*['one', 'two', 'three'])
# arg1 = one
# arg2 = two
# arg3 = three

t = ('one', 'two', 'three')

func(*t)
# arg1 = one
# arg2 = two
# arg3 = three

func(*('one', 'two', 'three'))
# arg1 = one
# arg2 = two
# arg3 = three
source: argument_expand_list_tuple.py

The following sample code uses lists, but the same applies to tuples.

If the number of elements does not match the number of arguments, a TypeError is raised.

# func(*['one', 'two'])
# TypeError: func() missing 1 required positional argument: 'arg3'

# func(*['one', 'two', 'three', 'four'])
# TypeError: func() takes 3 positional arguments but 4 were given
source: argument_expand_list_tuple.py

With default arguments

If the function has default arguments, these default values are used when there are not enough elements. If there are too many elements, a TypeError is raised.

def func_default(arg1=1, arg2=2, arg3=3):
    print('arg1 =', arg1)
    print('arg2 =', arg2)
    print('arg3 =', arg3)

func_default(*['one', 'two'])
# arg1 = one
# arg2 = two
# arg3 = 3

func_default(*['one'])
# arg1 = one
# arg2 = 2
# arg3 = 3

# func_default(*['one', 'two', 'three', 'four'])
# TypeError: func_default() takes from 0 to 3 positional arguments but 4 were given
source: argument_expand_list_tuple.py

With variable-length arguments (*args)

If the function has a variable-length argument (*args), all elements following the positional argument are passed to the variable-length argument.

def func_args(arg1, *args):
    print('arg1 =', arg1)
    print('args =', args)

func_args(*['one', 'two'])
# arg1 = one
# args = ('two',)

func_args(*['one', 'two', 'three'])
# arg1 = one
# args = ('two', 'three')

func_args(*['one', 'two', 'three', 'four'])
# arg1 = one
# args = ('two', 'three', 'four')
source: argument_expand_list_tuple.py

Expand a dictionary (dict) with **

By specifying a dictionary (dict) prefixed with ** as an argument, each key-value pair is passed as a keyword argument.

def func(arg1, arg2, arg3):
    print('arg1 =', arg1)
    print('arg2 =', arg2)
    print('arg3 =', arg3)

d = {'arg1': 'one', 'arg2': 'two', 'arg3': 'three'}

func(**d)
# arg1 = one
# arg2 = two
# arg3 = three

func(**{'arg1': 'one', 'arg2': 'two', 'arg3': 'three'})
# arg1 = one
# arg2 = two
# arg3 = three
source: argument_expand_dict.py

If there are not enough keys or if the keys do not match the argument names, a TypeError is raised.

# func(**{'arg1': 'one', 'arg2': 'two'})
# TypeError: func() missing 1 required positional argument: 'arg3'

# func(**{'arg1': 'one', 'arg2': 'two', 'arg3': 'three', 'arg4': 'four'})
# TypeError: func() got an unexpected keyword argument 'arg4'
source: argument_expand_dict.py

With default arguments

If the function has default arguments, only the value of the argument whose name matches a dictionary key is updated. If a key does not match the argument name, a TypeError is raised.

def func_default(arg1=1, arg2=2, arg3=3):
    print('arg1 =', arg1)
    print('arg2 =', arg2)
    print('arg3 =', arg3)

func_default(**{'arg1': 'one'})
# arg1 = one
# arg2 = 2
# arg3 = 3

func_default(**{'arg2': 'two', 'arg3': 'three'})
# arg1 = 1
# arg2 = two
# arg3 = three

# func_default(**{'arg1': 'one', 'arg4': 'four'})
# TypeError: func_default() got an unexpected keyword argument 'arg4'
source: argument_expand_dict.py

With variable-length arguments (**kwargs)

If the function has a variable-length argument (**kwargs), all elements with keys that do not match the argument name are passed to the variable-length argument.

def func_kwargs(arg1, **kwargs):
    print('arg1 =', arg1)
    print('kwargs =', kwargs)

func_kwargs(**{'arg1': 'one', 'arg2': 'two', 'arg3': 'three'})
# arg1 = one
# kwargs = {'arg2': 'two', 'arg3': 'three'}

func_kwargs(**{'arg1': 'one', 'arg2': 'two', 'arg3': 'three', 'arg4': 'four'})
# arg1 = one
# kwargs = {'arg2': 'two', 'arg3': 'three', 'arg4': 'four'}

func_kwargs(**{'arg1': 'one', 'arg3': 'three'})
# arg1 = one
# kwargs = {'arg3': 'three'}
source: argument_expand_dict.py

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