title: Python Optional Parameters Censoring
body: <p>I am trying to make an <code>__init__()</code> function for a class. Here is an example of where I get stuck.   </p>
  
  <pre><code>class Names():
      """a class for storing a number of names"""
  
      def __init__(self, names): #names can be any sequence of strings
          """takes a sequence of names and puts them into a list"""
          self.name_list = []
          for element in names:
              self.name_list.append(element)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But when I try: </p>
  
  <pre><code>Names("John", "Bobby", "Sarah")   
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I get the error message   </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>TypeError: <strong>init</strong>() takes 2 positional arguments but 4 were given   </p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Is there a way to make this work for any arbitrary number of names or in other words a sequence of names?   </p>