Ordering Arguments in a Function

00:00 Now that you’ve learned what *args and **kwargs are for, you’re ready to start writing functions that take a varying number of input arguments.

00:07 But what if you want to create a function that takes a changeable number of both positional and named arguments? In this case, you have to bear in mind that order counts. Just as non-default arguments have to precede default arguments, so *args must come before **kwargs.

00:22 So the correct order for your parameters is this: standard arguments come first,

00:29 followed by *args arguments, and then finally **kwargs arguments. So for example, this function definition is correct. The *args variable is appropriately listed before **kwargs.

00:41 But what if you try to modify the order of the arguments? For example, have a look at this function. Now, **kwargs comes before *args in the function definition.

00:50 If you try to run this example, you’ll receive an error from the interpreter. In this case, since *args comes after **kwargs, the Python interpreter throws a SyntaxError.