Module 11: Flexible arguments and scope

Accept any number of arguments with *args and **kwargs, and control where names live with local and global scope.

Exam	PCEP-30-03
Section	4. Functions and Exceptions (20% of the exam)
Objectives	4.1.4 and 4.1.5
Exam questions	About 2, one per objective

By the end of this module you can do everything below. The objectives and their wording come from the official PCEP-30-03 syllabus.

4.1.4 Accept variable numbers of arguments

• Use *args to collect additional positional arguments.
• Explain that *args stores collected arguments in a tuple.
• Iterate through values received through *args.
• Use **kwargs to collect additional keyword arguments.
• Explain that **kwargs stores collected arguments in a dictionary.
• Access and process keys and values received through **kwargs.
• Combine standard parameters, default parameters, *args, and **kwargs in a valid function definition.

4.1.5 Manage variable scope

• Distinguish between local and global name scopes.
• Explain how names created inside a function are resolved.
• Recognize namespaces and variable shadowing.
• Use the global keyword to modify a global variable from inside a function.
• Explain the risks associated with excessive use of global variables.