Change a function argument name in Python

Question

I have a function which take countries argument

getStats(countries=['France','Spain','Italy','US'])

I want to reuse exactly the same function but I would like to change the name argument countries to regions

getStats(regions=['New York','Boston','San Francisco'])

What is the good way to proceed? Is it a decorator case?

Answer 1

How would the function know which list to use in the default case getStats() ? Assuming your function works exactly the same with countries and regions and you want to supply defaults for both, then make them lists outside the function that a user can apply. As mentioned, the parameter name can be more vague getStats(location) and require a list, but the user has handy default ones available.

countries = ['France','Spain','Italy','US']
regions = ['New York','Boston','San Francisco'])

def getStats(location):
    """Get stats for location. Default `countries` and `regions` lists
    available."""
    ....

Or, if you prefer, define multiple functions that call the common one.

def getStatsByCountry(countries=['France','Spain','Italy','US']):
    return getStats(countries)

def getStatsByRegion(regions=['New York','Boston','San Francisco']):
    return getStats(regions)