Functions with variable-length keyword arguments (**kwargs)

Let's push further on what you've learned about flexible arguments - you've used *args, you're now going to use **kwargs! What makes **kwargs different is that it allows you to pass a variable number of keyword arguments to functions. Recall from the previous video that, within the function definition, kwargs is a dictionary.

To understand this idea better, you're going to use **kwargs in this exercise to define a function that accepts a variable number of keyword arguments. The function simulates a simple status report system that prints out the status of a character in a movie.

This exercise is part of the course

Introduction to Functions in Python

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Exercise instructions

Complete the function header with the function name report_status. It accepts a single flexible argument **kwargs.
Iterate over the key-value pairs of kwargs to print out the keys and values, separated by a colon ':'.
In the first call to report_status(), pass the following keyword-value pairs: name="luke", affiliation="jedi" and status="missing".
In the second call to report_status(), pass the following keyword-value pairs: name="anakin", affiliation="sith lord" and status="deceased".

Hands-on interactive exercise

Have a go at this exercise by completing this sample code.

# Define report_status
def ____(____):
    """Print out the status of a movie character."""

    print("\nBEGIN: REPORT\n")

    # Iterate over the key-value pairs of kwargs
    for ____, ____ in kwargs.items():
        # Print out the keys and values, separated by a colon ':'
        print(____ + ": " + ____)

    print("\nEND REPORT")

# First call to report_status()


# Second call to report_status()
report_status(name=____, affiliation=____, status=____)

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