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Add Force Remaining Arguments To Be Named as a Python TIL
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# Force Remaining Arguments To Be Named
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When the _positional argument collector_ (`*`) is used in a function definition,
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all the arguments that follow it must now be explicitly named when invoking that
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function. This is regardless of whether you are collecting positional arguments
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into a named tuple (e.g. `*rest`) or are using the empty/dummy version (`*`).
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A friend recently recommended I use this syntax to force some configuration
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values (often booleans) to be explicitly named at call sites.
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Here is an example of this in my [`py-vmt` project](https://github.com/jbranchaud/py-vmt):
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```python
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class CliContext:
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def __init__(self, *, verbose: bool, repo: SessionRepository | None = None) -> None:
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self.verbose: bool = verbose
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self.active_session: Session | None = None
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self.repo: SessionRepository = repo or JsonRepository()
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self.active_session = self.repo.active_session()
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```
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Notice that right after `self` is the `*` which means that both `verbose` and
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`repo` must be named arguments.
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Here is a corresponding call site:
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```python
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ctx.obj = CliContext(verbose=True)
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```
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Now when I initialize `CliContext`, there is no choice for me to pass in an
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unnamed argument of `True`. It has to be paired with `verbose`. Above I've
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excluded `repo` because that falls back to a default value. If I were to include
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it, it would have to be named.
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The same applies to this scenario where I'm collecting the positional arguments.
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```python
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def build_identifier(first, *rest, delimiter="/"):
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if rest is None:
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return first
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return delimiter.join([first, *rest])
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```
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```python
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>>> print(build_identifier("taco"))
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taco
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>>> print(build_identifier("taco", "bell", "mas", delimiter="-"))
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taco-bell-mas
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>>> print(build_identifier("taco", "bell", "mas", "-"))
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taco/bell/mas/-
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```
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Notice in the third example where I don't use a named argument for the
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delimiter. It instead gets swept up in the collection of positional arguments.
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This language of _positional argument collector_ I got from [Python in a
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Nutshell, 4th
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Edition](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/python-in-a/9781098113544/) (see
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pg. 96).
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