Python - about *, **, *args, **kwargs

* : use to pass list/tuple as positional argument to a function
ex. def func(a, b, c)
         print a, b, c
      l = [1,2,3]
      func(*l)
      1,2,3


** : use to pass dictionary as named argument to a function
ex. def func(a, b, c)
         print a, b, c
     d ={a:1, b:2, c:3}
      func(**l)
      1,2,3

*args : use to define a function to receive a arbitary arguments as list
ex. def func(a, *args)
         print a, args
      func(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
      1, (2, 3, 4, 5)


*args : use to define a function to receive a arbitary arguments as dictionary
ex. def func(a, **kwargs)
         print a, args
      func(1, b=2, c=3, d=4, e=5)
      1, ('b':2, 'c':3,'d':4, 'e':5)

This is just my simple note, more in details refer to this very good post : http://agiliq.com/blog/2012/06/understanding-args-and-kwargs/