What are *args and **kwargs in Python?

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*args and **kwargs let a Python function accept a variable number of arguments . The * and ** are the actual language syntax; args and kwargs are conventional names — you can use any identifier, but sticking to the convention keeps code readable. *args — collects any extra positional arguments into a tuple . **kwargs — collects any extra keyword arguments into a dict . Example: def describe(name, *args, **kwargs): print(name, args, kwargs) describe("Alice", 30, "NYC", role="admin", active=True) # Alice (30, 'NYC') {'role': 'admin', 'active': True} Know the parameter order: positional, *args, keyword-only, **kwargs. The unpacking use (* and ** in function calls) is as important as the collection use (in definitions). The keyword-only parameter pattern (after *) is a Python 3 feature that shows depth.