Python – Packing and Unpacking Dictionaries

Today I will explain the concept of unpacking and packing within Python.

Unpacking

Unpacking allows us to pass keyword arguments (i.e dictionary) to a function via the use of the ** syntax. We can then access the values within the function like so,

>>> def do_something(**kwargs):
...     print kwargs['a']
...     print kwargs['b']
...     print kwargs['c']

Packing

Packing allows you to pass a set of keyword values to a function, i.e like a dictionary. This is far quicker then having to explicitly pass each keyword. An example is shown below,

// with packing
>>> some_values = {'b': 2, 'c': 3}
>>> do_something(a=1, **some_values)
1
2
3

// without packing.
>> do_something(a=1, b=2, c=3)
1
2
3
Rick Donato

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