How does * operator work in python

Question

I know that it expands function arguments, but if I try something like this in Python 2:

x = [1,2,3]
print *x # SyntaxError: invalid syntax
print [*x] # SyntaxError: invalid syntax

So it appears that I am missing something about what * exactly does?

print is not a function in python 2, it's a statement. And a list literal isn't a function either. — Aran-Fey
– Aran-Fey, Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 17:03
Despite your terminal question mark, you are not actually asking a question? — Ulrich Eckhardt
– Ulrich Eckhardt, Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 17:07

Sunitha · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-17 17:25:37Z

3

The * operator, unpacks the elements from a sequence/iterable (for example, list or tuple) as positional arguments to a function

On python2, print is a statement and not a function. So import print function from future, so that you use * operator for unpacking a list elements as arguments

>>> from __future__ import print_function
>>> print (*x)
1 2 3

On python3, print is a function. So you can use * operator straight-away

>>> print (*x)
1 2 3

edited Aug 17, 2018 at 17:25

answered Aug 17, 2018 at 17:04

Sunitha

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