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The Key For Understanding Python Positional And Keyword Arguments
In one of the previous article, we have summarized the different ways of passing arguments to Python script. In this article, we will be reviewing through the various approaches for defining and passing arguments into a function in python.
First, let’s start from the basis.
Parameter vs argument
By definition, parameters are the identifiers you specified when you define your function, while arguments are the actual values you supplied to the function when you make the function call. Sometimes you may see people mix up the word parameter and argument, but ultimately they are all referring to the same thing.
Basically Python function supports two types of parameters: positional and keyword arguments. Positional argument is designed to accept argument by following its position during the definition time, while for keyword arguments, you will need to specify the identifier (keyword) followed by the values.
You are allowed to use a combination of positional and keyword arguments when you define your function parameters. Below are the 4 types of variations:
