The Lore Of Python

*args

What is *args in layman terms ?

Imagine you’re the one in your family who goes out to buy groceries. Your mother gives you a list — sometimes 3 items, sometimes 10. You don’t say, “Mom, please stick to only 5 items.” (Don’t try if you’re alive💀).

Get Moksh Mahawar’s stories in your inbox

Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.

Remember me for faster sign in

You simply take whatever she gives and go buy it.

That’s exactly what *args does in Python.

It lets a function accept any number of inputs — just like your grocery list. Whether it’s 2 or 20 items, the function handles them all without complaint.

So, What is *args in professional terms ?

In Python, *args allows a function to accept a variable number of positional arguments. It collects all extra arguments passed to the function into a tuple, enabling flexible and dynamic function calls without requiring a fixed number of inputs.

This is especially useful when:

• You don’t know in advance how many arguments a user might pass.
• You want to build reusable, adaptable functions.
• You’re designing APIs, decorators, or wrappers that need to forward arguments.

for example

def log_events(*args):
    for event in args:
        print("Event:", event)

log_events("Login", "File Upload", "Logout")

Output:

Event: Login
Event: File Upload
Event: Logout

Can’t I just take a list as an input rather than *args?

Yes, you can pass a list to a function — but the way you call the function and how it receives the data will be different

1. Using a list

def myFunction(items):
    print("User gave input: ", items)

myFunction(["item_1", "item_2", "item_3"]) 
# Here, the function gets one argument - a list.

Output

User gave input: ['item_1', 'item_2', 'item_3']

2. Using *args

def that_function(*items):
    print("User gave input: ", items)

that_function("item_1", "item_2", "item_3")
# Here, the function gets three separate arguments, collected into a tuple.

Output

User gave input: ('item_1', 'item_2', 'item_3')

Why Use *args Then

• By using *args function to accept any number of arguments directly,
• We can unpack a list and pass it into a*args function, as follows:

my_list = ["item_1", "item_2", "item_3"]
that_function(*my_list)

• This gives you the best of both worlds — flexibility and clarity

Didn’t *args made the traditional method deprecated ?

Not at all. Both have their place

Use Traditional Arguments When:

• You want exactly 2 or 3 inputs.
• You want to validate or enforce specific parameters.
• You want clarity and simplicity for fixed tasks

def greet(name, time_of_day):
    print(f"Good {time_of_day}, {name}!")

Use *args When:

• You want to accept any number of inputs.
• You’re building reusable, generic, or helper functions.
• You don’t want to restrict the caller.

def greet_all(*names):
    for name in names:
        print(f"Hello, {name}!")