4.7.4. Unpacking Argument Lists
The reverse situation occurs when the arguments are already in a list or tuple but need to be unpacked for a function call requiring separate positional arguments. For instance, the built-in range() function expects separate start and stop arguments. If they are not available separately, write the function call with the *-operator to unpack the arguments out of a list or tuple:
>>> range(3, 6) # normal call with separate arguments
[3, 4, 5]
>>> args = [3, 6]
>>> range(*args) # call with arguments unpacked from a list
[3, 4, 5]
In the same fashion, dictionaries can deliver keyword arguments with the **-operator:
>>> def parrot(voltage, state='a stiff', action='voom'):
... print "-- This parrot wouldn't", action,
... print "if you put", voltage, "volts through it.",
... print "E's", state, "!"
...
>>> d = {"voltage": "four million", "state": "bleedin' demised", "action": "VOOM"}
>>> parrot(**d)
-- This parrot wouldn't VOOM if you put four million volts through it. E's bleedin' demised !