Python Function Arguments

Information can be passed into functions as arguments. Arguments are specified after the function name, inside the parentheses. You can add as many arguments as you want, just separate them with a comma. The following example has a function with one argument (fname). When the function is called, we pass along a first name, which is used inside the function to print the full name:

fname ):

fname + " Refsnes") my_function("

") my_function("

") my_function("

")

The terms parameter and argument can be used for the same thing: information that are passed into a function.

A parameter is the variable listed inside the parentheses in the function definition. An argument is the actual value that is sent to the function when it is called.

By default, a function must be called with the correct number of arguments. If your function expects 2 arguments, you must call it with exactly 2 arguments.

This function expects 2 arguments, and gets 2 arguments::

If you try to call the function with the wrong number of arguments, you will get an error:

This function expects 2 arguments, but gets only 1:

You can assign default values to parameters. If the function is called without an argument, it uses the default value:

):

):

= value syntax.

This way, with keyword arguments, the order of the arguments does not matter.

Keyword Arguments is often shortened to kwargs in Python documentation.

When you call a function with arguments without using keywords, they are called positional arguments. Positional arguments must be in the correct order:

The order matters with positional arguments:

Switching the order changes the result: