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Python Object-Oriented Python Instant Objects Method Arguments

tomtrnka
tomtrnka
9,780 Points
Posted by tomtrnka
tomtrnka
9,780 Points

Passing a dictionary into **kwargs ???!!

class Thief:
    sneaky = True

    def __init__(self, name, sneaky=True, **kwargs):
        self.name = name
        self.sneaky = sneaky

        for key,value in kwargs.items():
            setattr(self, key, value)

I tried to pass a dictionary as value into the **kwargs parameter but it doesnt work. No attributes age or skin were created for the instance 'brother'.

brother = Thief("Ivan", {'skin':'too soft', 'age':'too old'})

That means I can pass only variable arguments into **kwargs (meaning: age='too old', skin='too soft') ?? Or is there a way to extract this dictionary from **kwargs and assign the values into variables ?? Thanks a lot!

1 Answer

Michael Hulet
Michael Hulet
47,913 Points
Michael Hulet
Michael Hulet
47,913 Points

You totally can pass in a dictionary for attributes like you're trying to do, you just also have to unpack it at the call site, like this:

# Notice the extra ** before the dictionary here
sister = Thief("Emily", **{'skin': 'kinda rough tbh', 'age': 'younger than me'})
print(sister.skin)
>>> kinda rough tbh

The extra ** is what tells Python that it should use that dictionary as keyword arguments. Otherwise, it'll think it's just another parameter. For example, look at what happens when you print out brother.sneaky in the code you posted 😉

brother.sneaky
>>> {'skin': 'too soft', 'age': 'too old'}
tomtrnka
tomtrnka
9,780 Points
tomtrnka
tomtrnka
9,780 Points

Thank you! makes sense :)