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Python Essentials

You're reading from   Python Essentials Modernize existing Python code and plan code migrations to Python using this definitive guide

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Product type Paperback
Published in Jun 2015
Publisher Packt
ISBN-13 9781784390341
Length 298 pages
Edition 1st Edition
Languages
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Author (1):
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Steven F. Lott Steven F. Lott
Author Profile Icon Steven F. Lott
Steven F. Lott
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Toc

Table of Contents (17) Chapters Close

Preface 1. Getting Started FREE CHAPTER 2. Simple Data Types 3. Expressions and Output 4. Variables, Assignment and Scoping Rules 5. Logic, Comparisons, and Conditions 6. More Complex Data Types 7. Basic Function Definitions 8. More Advanced Functions 9. Exceptions 10. Files, Databases, Networks, and Contexts 11. Class Definitions 12. Scripts, Modules, Packages, Libraries, and Applications 13. Metaprogramming and Decorators 14. Fit and Finish – Unit Testing, Packaging, and Documentation 15. Next Steps Index

Using the "everything else" notations of * and **


Python offers even more flexibility in how we can define positional and keyword parameters for a function. The examples we've seen are all limited to a fixed and finite collection of argument values. Python allows us to write functions that have an essentially unlimited number of positional as well as keyword argument values.

Python will create a tuple of all unmatched positional parameters. It will also create a dictionary of all unmatched keyword parameters. This allows us to write functions that can be used like this:

>>> prod2(1, 2, 3, 4)
24

This function accepts an arbitrary number of positional arguments. Compare this with the prod() function shown previously. Our previous example required a single sequence object, and we had to use that function as follows:

>>> prod([1, 2, 3, 4])
24

The prod2() function will create a product of all argument values. Since the prod2() function can work with an unlimited collection of positional...

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