Why different argument types are needed in Python - Challenge Your Understanding

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

Output of function with positional and keyword arguments

What is the output of this Python code?

Python

def greet(name, greeting="Hello"):
    return f"{greeting}, {name}!"

print(greet("Alice"))
print(greet("Bob", greeting="Hi"))

A TypeError

B Hello, Alice!\nHello, Bob!

C Hi, Alice!\nHi, Bob!

D Hello, Alice!\nHi, Bob!

💡 Hint

Check how default values work for keyword arguments.

The function greet has a default value for the greeting argument. When calling greet("Alice"), it uses the default "Hello". When calling greet("Bob", greeting="Hi"), it uses the provided keyword argument "Hi".

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

Output of function with *args and **kwargs

What will this code print?

Python

def show_args(*args, **kwargs):
    print(f"Positional: {args}")
    print(f"Keyword: {kwargs}")

show_args(1, 2, a=3, b=4)

A Positional: [1, 2]\nKeyword: {'a': 3, 'b': 4}

B Positional: (1, 2)\nKeyword: {'a': 3, 'b': 4}

C Positional: (1, 2)\nKeyword: [('a', 3), ('b', 4)]

D TypeError

💡 Hint

Remember that *args collects positional arguments as a tuple, and **kwargs collects keyword arguments as a dictionary.

The *args parameter collects all positional arguments into a tuple. The **kwargs parameter collects all keyword arguments into a dictionary.

❓ Predict Output

advanced

Output of function with mutable default argument

What is the output of this code?

Python

def add_item(item, items=[]):
    items.append(item)
    return items

print(add_item('apple'))
print(add_item('banana'))

A ['apple']\n['apple', 'banana']

B ['apple']\n['banana']

C ['apple']\n[]

D TypeError

💡 Hint

Think about how default mutable arguments behave in Python functions.

The default list is created once when the function is defined. Each call without an explicit items argument uses the same list, so items accumulate.

❓ Predict Output

advanced

Output of function with argument unpacking

What will this code print?

Python

def multiply(x, y, z):
    return x * y * z

values = (2, 3, 4)
print(multiply(*values))

A 24

B TypeError

C 9

D None

💡 Hint

Look at how the tuple is unpacked into function arguments.

The * operator unpacks the tuple values into separate arguments for the function multiply. So multiply(2, 3, 4) returns 24.

❓ Predict Output

expert

Output of function with positional-only and keyword-only arguments

What is the output of this code?

Python

def func(a, b, /, c, d, *, e, f):
    return a + b + c + d + e + f

print(func(1, 2, 3, d=4, e=5, f=6))

A 15

B TypeError

C 21

D SyntaxError

💡 Hint

Understand how positional-only (/) and keyword-only (*) arguments work in Python 3.8+.

The parameters a and b are positional-only, so they must be passed positionally. c and d can be positional or keyword. e and f are keyword-only and must be passed by name. The call matches these rules, so the sum is 1+2+3+4+5+6=21.