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Python

Mona Jalal
Mona Jalal
4,302 Points
Posted by Mona Jalal
Mona Jalal
4,302 Points

Can someone please explain in very simple terms what does getopt do here?

>>> import getopt
>>> args = '-a -b -cfoo -d bar a1 a2'.split()
>>> args
['-a', '-b', '-cfoo', '-d', 'bar', 'a1', 'a2']
>>> optlist, args = getopt.getopt(args, 'abc:d:')
>>> optlist
[('-a', ''), ('-b', ''), ('-c', 'foo'), ('-d', 'bar')]
>>> args
['a1', 'a2']

Very much confused what happens in this line >>> optlist, args = getopt.getopt(args, 'abc:d:')

Is there a team tree house video that covers getopt? It is a very handy feature and I have been asked for it at least in two of my interviews.

Matthew Hill
Matthew Hill
7,799 Points
Matthew Hill
Matthew Hill
7,799 Points

Hi Mona, I know this doesn't fully answer your question so I'm just putting it as a comment, but the python docs have a fairly straightforward answer here: https://docs.python.org/3.1/library/getopt.html

1 Answer

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,072 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,072 Points

Hi again Mona, It looks like you're already familiar with the documentation since you quoted the example from it.

The simple explanation is that it breaks up command line contents into option/value pairs along with a list of non-option arguments. This is useful for implementing non-graphic console utility programs.