TypeError: split() takes no keyword arguments in Python 2.x

Question

I am trying to separate a section of a document into its different components which are separated by ampersands. This is what I have:

name,function,range,w,h,k,frac,constraint = str.split(str="&", num=8)

Error:

TypeError: split() takes no keyword arguments

Can someone explain the error to me and also provide an alternate method for me to make this work?

Answer 1

The parameters of str.split are called sep and maxsplit :

str.split(sep="&", maxsplit=8)

But you can only use the parameter names like this in Python 3.x. In Python 2.x, you need to do:

str.split("&", 8)

which in my opinion is the best for both versions since using the names is really just redundant. str.split is a very well known tool in Python, so I doubt any Python programmers will have trouble understanding what the arguments to the method mean.

Also, you should avoid making user-defined names the same as one of the built-in names. Doing this overshadows the built-in and makes it unusable in the current scope. So, I'd pick a different name for your string besides str .

Answer 2

The error states that you can't provide named arguments to split . You have to call split with just the arguments - without the names of the arguments:

name,function,range,w,h,k,frac,constraint = str.split("&", 8)

Answer 3

split doesnt get keyword arguments str or num . Do this instead:

name,function,range,w,h,k,frac,constraint  = str.split('&', 8)