{"id":21271,"date":"2020-08-17T10:31:59","date_gmt":"2020-08-17T17:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careerkarma.com\/blog\/?p=21271"},"modified":"2023-12-01T03:57:57","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T11:57:57","slug":"python-syntaxerror-non-default-argument-follows-default-argument","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/careerkarma.com\/blog\/python-syntaxerror-non-default-argument-follows-default-argument\/","title":{"rendered":"Python SyntaxError: non-default argument follows default argument Solution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An argument can have a default value in a Python function. If you specify arguments with default values, they must come after arguments without default values. Otherwise, you encounter a \u201cSyntaxError: non-default argument follows default argument\u201d error.
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In this guide, we talk about what this error means and why it is raised. We walk through an example of this error to help you understand how to solve it in your code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SyntaxError: non-default argument follows default argument<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Python assigns arguments to variables<\/a> in the order in which they appear in a function call.
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Default arguments must come before non-default arguments. This is because non-default arguments are mandatory.
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Whereas default values have a value even if one is not specified, a non-default argument does not. Default arguments have no purpose if you have to state a value for each of them.
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Consider the following code:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

def test_function(score=25, class=6, name):\n\tpass\n\ntest_function("John", 22)<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
In this code, Python does not know whether \u201cJohn\u201d is assigned to \u201cname\u201d or \u201cscore\u201d. We have to use explicitly the values which to be assigned to each argument in our function call:
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test_function(name="John", score=22)<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
This syntax is more verbose than if you just state default arguments before non-default ones.
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Alternatively, we can assign a value to each argument. This defeats the purpose of having arguments with default values.
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In a function, the order in which arguments must appear is:
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