what is the underscore (_) for? (beginner)

Today I talk about the three main places you'll see an underscore (and even a double-underscore!) in python

Setup commands

git clone git@github.com:pre-commit/pre-commit
# git clone https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit
cd pre-commit

Interactive examples

Python

5 ** 30
x = _
x
5 ** 20
print(f'the previous result was {_}')

_ = 123
_

person = ('Anthony', 29, 'San Mateo, CA')
name, _, location = person
_, _, location = person
*_, location = person

def f(*_, **__):
    print('hi')

f()
f(1)
f(1, a=1)
f(1, a=1, b=2)

def f(*_, **_): pass