--- title: Args: Amazing or Approaching? - Evan Kohilas | daily.dev description: [EuroPython 2026 - S1 on 2026-07-16] 🎤 *Args: Amazing or Approaching? by Evan Kohilas* 🔗 https://ep2026.europython.eu/session/args-amazing-or-approaching... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/args-amazing-or-approaching---evan-kohilas-1przrlht2 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Args: Amazing or Approaching? - Evan Kohilas | daily.dev og:description: [EuroPython 2026 - S1 on 2026-07-16] 🎤 *Args: Amazing or Approaching? by Evan Kohilas* 🔗 https://ep2026.europython.eu/session/args-amazing-or-approaching... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/args-amazing-or-approaching---evan-kohilas-1przrlht2 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/1pRzrlht2.png og:image:alt: Args: Amazing or Approaching? - Evan Kohilas og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Args: Amazing or Approaching? - Evan Kohilas **[EuroPython Conference](https://daily.dev/sources/europython)** · 28 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary [EuroPython 2026 - S1 on 2026-07-16] 🎤 *Args: Amazing or Approaching? by Evan Kohilas* 🔗 https://ep2026.europython.eu/session/args-amazing-or-approaching 00:00 - Intro 01:21 - Arguments vs Parameters 01:55 - Example intro 02:21 - Problems of adding optional parameters 03:20 - Solution via wrapper functions 03:59 - Solution via function overloading 04:29 - Python's lack of function overloading 05:10 - Solution via Python's default arguments 05:52 - Problems of Python's default arguments 07:16 - How other languages use the builder pattern to solve optional arguments without function overloading 07:56 - Problems of the builder pattern 08:33 - Problems of function overloading 09:07 - Benefits of Python's keyword arguments 11:30 - re.sub example problem 13:30 - re.sub example solution using the `*` parameter 13:37 - How to enforcing keyword arguments using the `*` parameter 14:25 - Problems when using the `*` parameter 15:14 - Solution via PEP736 15:31 - Solution via linters 16:34 - The `/` parameter, and problems of Python's keyword arguments 18:06 - How the `/` parameter helps with parameter renaming 18:32 - Benefits of Swift's handling of external and internal parameter names 19:36 - How Javascript similarly handles external and internal parameter names 20:24 - How the `**` operator in Python allows for unpack arguments from dictionaries 21:08 - How the `...rest` property allows Javascript to handle unexpected arguments 21:21 - How the `**kwargs` parameter allows Python to handle unexpected arguments 22:19 - How Python 2 used to handle parameter unpacking 22:53 - Problems of `**kwargs` and solution using the `/` parameter 23:40 - How the `*args` parameter allows an arbitrary number of arguments 25:15 - Are arbitrary arguments a good idea? Why doesn't Rust support them? 25:38 - How arbitrary arguments make it difficult to understand function definitions 26:01 - Typing arbitrary arguments 26:36 - Recap of Python's function parameter and argument system 27:37 - Outro 📝 Abstract: From default args, to `**kwargs`, and everything in-between, Python's comprehensive argument system lends itself to some of the most effective code, through encouraging readability, reuse, and easy refactoring. But is that really true? Why, and why not? What could we learn from other languages? And what else could lie in their future? --- In this session, we'll give a rundown of Python's comprehensive function argument system and how its features allow for safety, conciseness, and expressiveness (whether you're calling or writing functions). We'll then give examples for where that system lacks, where it could bite you, and give suggestions for what more could be done on Python code to fix those limitations. --- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: --- Tags: [#python](https://daily.dev/tags/python), [#conference](https://daily.dev/tags/conference) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/args-amazing-or-approaching---evan-kohilas-1przrlht2) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Args: Amazing or Approaching? - Evan Kohilas","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/args-amazing-or-approaching---evan-kohilas-1przrlht2","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/args-amazing-or-approaching---evan-kohilas-1przrlht2"},"datePublished":"2026-08-19T10:14:17.557Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T12:01:52.111Z","description":"[EuroPython 2026 - S1 on 2026-07-16]\n🎤 *Args: Amazing or Approaching? by Evan Kohilas* \n🔗 https://ep2026.europython.eu/session/args-amazing-or-approaching...","image":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NQRU9bmVkyw/sddefault.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NQRU9bmVkyw/sddefault.jpg","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"EuroPython Conference","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"EuroPython Conference","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--qu8RO-lH--/f_auto,q_auto/v1777800764/logos/europython?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/europython"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/args-amazing-or-approaching---evan-kohilas-1przrlht2","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"python,conference","timeRequired":"PT28M","video":{"@type":"VideoObject","name":"Args: Amazing or Approaching? - Evan Kohilas","description":"[EuroPython 2026 - S1 on 2026-07-16]\n🎤 *Args: Amazing or Approaching? by Evan Kohilas* \n🔗 https://ep2026.europython.eu/session/args-amazing-or-approaching...","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NQRU9bmVkyw/sddefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-08-19T10:14:17.557Z","duration":"PT28M","url":"https://api.daily.dev/r/1pRzrlht2","embedUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/NQRU9bmVkyw"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"EuroPython Conference","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/europython"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Args: Amazing or Approaching? - Evan Kohilas"}]} ```