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For instance, can someone please explain to me the purpose of the asterisk in line 2 below? 

m = Basemap(projection='merc', llcrnrlon=lon.min(), urcrnrlon=lon.max(), llcrnrlat=lat.min(), urcrnrlat=lat.max())
x, y = m(*np.meshgrid(lat,lon))
sls37
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2 Answers2

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It means it will "expand" a collection in its individual elements.

So, suppose a function needs many arguments, and you have these arguments in a collection. Since you could not pass the collection itself (which would count as a single argument), you use the * so the collection is expanded and passed as its individual arguments to the function.

heltonbiker
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from the documentation:

An asterisk * denotes iterable unpacking. Its operand must be an iterable. The iterable is expanded into a sequence of items, which are included in the new tuple, list, or set, at the site of the unpacking.

John Anderson
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  • Note the bullet point in the "Answer Well-Asked Questions" section of [How to Answer](https://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-answer) re: questions which "...have already been asked and answered many times before". – Charles Duffy Dec 17 '18 at 01:51
  • Thank you to the two that answered my question. I saw the other posted questions already which did not clearly answer what I was specifically asking. The Stack Overlords may do as they wish with my question now. – sls37 Dec 17 '18 at 01:58