# Type Conversions
PyO3 provides some handy traits to convert between Python types and Rust types.
## `.extract()`
The easiest way to convert a Python object to a Rust value is using `.extract()?`.
## `ToPyObject` trait
[`ToPyObject`] trait is a conversion trait that allows various objects to be
converted into [`PyObject`][PyObject]. `IntoPy<PyObject>` serves the
same purpose, except that it consumes `self`.
## `FromPyObject` and `RefFromPyObject` trait
## `*args` and `**kwargs` for python object call
There are several ways how to pass positional and keyword arguments to a Python object call.
The [`ObjectProtocol`][ObjectProtocol] trait provides two methods:
* `call` - call any callable Python object.
* `call_method` - call a specific method on the object, shorthand for `get_attr` then `call`.
Both methods accept `args` and `kwargs` arguments.
```rust
use pyo3::prelude::*;
use pyo3::types::{PyDict, PyTuple};
struct SomeObject;
impl SomeObject {
fn new(py: Python) -> PyObject {
PyDict::new(py).to_object(py)
}
}
fn main() {
let arg1 = "arg1";
let arg2 = "arg2";
let arg3 = "arg3";
let gil = Python::acquire_gil();
let py = gil.python();
let obj = SomeObject::new(py);
// call object without empty arguments
obj.call0(py);
// call object with PyTuple
let args = PyTuple::new(py, &[arg1, arg2, arg3]);
obj.call1(py, args);
// pass arguments as rust tuple
let args = (arg1, arg2, arg3);
obj.call1(py, args);
}
```
`kwargs` can be `None` or `Some(&PyDict)`. You can use the
[`IntoPyDict`][IntoPyDict] trait to convert other dict-like containers, e.g. `HashMap`, `BTreeMap` as well as tuples with up to 10 elements and `Vec`s where each element is a two-element tuple.
```rust
use pyo3::prelude::*;
use pyo3::types::{IntoPyDict, PyDict};
use std::collections::HashMap;
struct SomeObject;
impl SomeObject {
fn new(py: Python) -> PyObject {
PyDict::new(py).to_object(py)
}
}
fn main() {
let key1 = "key1";
let val1 = 1;
let key2 = "key2";
let val2 = 2;
let gil = Python::acquire_gil();
let py = gil.python();
let obj = SomeObject::new(py);
// call object with PyDict
let kwargs = [(key1, val1)].into_py_dict(py);
obj.call(py, (), Some(kwargs));
// pass arguments as Vec
let kwargs = vec![(key1, val1), (key2, val2)];
obj.call(py, (), Some(kwargs.into_py_dict(py)));
// pass arguments as HashMap
let mut kwargs = HashMap::<&str, i32>::new();
kwargs.insert(key1, 1);
obj.call(py, (), Some(kwargs.into_py_dict(py)));
}
```
## `IntoPy<T>`
Many conversions in PyO3 can't use `std::convert::Into` because they need a GIL token. That's why the `IntoPy<T>` trait offers an `into_py` method that works just like `into`, except for taking a `Python<'_>` argument.
Eventually, traits such as `ToPyObject` will be replaced by this trait and a `FromPy` trait will be added that will implement `IntoPy`, just like with `From` and `Into`.
[`ToPyObject`]: https://docs.rs/pyo3/latest/pyo3/trait.ToPyObject.html
[PyObject]: https://docs.rs/pyo3/latest/pyo3/struct.PyObject.html
[PyTuple]: https://docs.rs/pyo3/latest/pyo3/types/struct.PyTuple.html
[ObjectProtocol]: https://docs.rs/pyo3/latest/pyo3/trait.ObjectProtocol.html
[IntoPyDict]: https://docs.rs/pyo3/latest/pyo3/types/trait.IntoPyDict.html