In practice, Python functions may have dozens of parameters. Think of them as "tuning knobs" on how a function calculates. If a function has a dozen parameters, it is cumbersome to remember their ordering in the header, which makes it hard for a programmer to use the function. Keyword arguments allow the order to be mixed up, but if a function has 12 parameters, it would still be necessary to have 12 arguments in each call to the function.

Keyword Parameters resolve this predicament by specifying a default value for some (or all) parameters. Here is a trivial example of a function to add up five things.

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def sumfive(a,b=0,c=0,d=0,e=0):
  return a+b+c+d+e

All parameters except the first have zero as the default value. Because the first parameter does not have a default value, every call to sumfive must say what is the value for parameter a (whereas the others can be missing). A few examples of calling sumfive are shown below.