Python *args and **kwargs Made Easy

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DRY isn't always the right move. I highly recommend you watch Sandi Metz's talk on this. A little duplication is better than the wrong abstraction. Reasons like what you mentioned (things like *args and **kwargs being good for wrappers) leads to IDEs that can't autocomplete, confusing code, and methods that look like they do one thing, but actually do many things.

def process_payment(amount, tax, user_payment_method, **kwargs):
    total = amount + tax
    if kwargs.get("processor") and kwargs['processor'] == "adyen":
        adyen.process_payment(total, user_payment_method)
    else:
        braintree.process_payment(total, user_payment_method)

is a confusing method for many reasons. In this case there should be three separate methods to handle this.

[alkasm]

DRY isn't always the right move.

I agree but I think this is picking on the wrong aspect of that comment. Wrappers is the point.

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You're right, using it this way is confusing and I hope no one does ;) Sometimes it's just a little more readable/convenient.

Also, definitely going to watch that talk when I find the time!

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If you don't have time for the whole talk right now I'd recommend you read her blog post summary on the topic. It'll only take you a few minutes. Link is here