Single asterisk

In function definition

A single asterisk indicates that all following arguments must be Python keyword arguments. Additionally, if the asterisk is immediately followed by a parameter (e.g. *args) then args holds all following positional arguments.

  • Standalone asterisk: Forces all arguments after the * to be passed as Python keyword arguments

    def foo(pos, *, forcenamed):
    return (pos, forcenamed)

print(foo(pos=10, forcenamed=20))
print(foo(10, forcenamed=20))
try:
    print(foo(10, 20))
except TypeError as e:
    print(e)

  • Asterisk with parameter: Forces all arguments after the * to be passed as Python keyword arguments and collects positional arguments.

    def foo(pos, *args, forcenamed):
    return (pos, args, forcenamed)

print(foo(pos=10, forcenamed=30))
print(foo(10, 20, 30, 30, forcenamed=50))
try:
    print(foo(10, 20))
except TypeError as e:
    print(e)

In function invocation

A single asterisk in a Python function invocation expands a tuple of positional arguments.

def foo(a, b, c):
    return a, b, c

args = (10, 20, 30)
print(foo(*args))

Double asterisk

A double asterisk (i.e. **) precedes a dictionary of Python keyword arguments.

def foo(a, b, **c):
    return a, b, c

print(foo(10, 20))
print(foo(10, 20, c=30, d=40))
try:
    print(foo(10, 20, 30))
except TypeError as e:
    print(e)

In function invocation

A double asterisk in a Python function invocation expands a dictionary of keyword arguments.

def foo(a, b, c):
    return a, b, c

kwargs = {'b': 20, 'c': 30}
print(foo(10, **kwargs))

Bibliography