title: Kotlin asterisk operator before variable name or Spread Operator in Kotlin
body: <p>I want to know what exactly an asterisk does before a variable name in Kotlin.
  I saw this (<code>*args</code>) in a <a href="https://spring.io/blog/2016/02/15/developing-spring-boot-applications-with-kotlin" rel="noreferrer">Spring boot Kotlin example</a>:</p>
  <pre><code>@SpringBootApplication
  open class Application {
  
      @Bean
      open fun init(repository: CustomerRepository) = CommandLineRunner {
          repository.save(Customer(&quot;Jack&quot;, &quot;Bauer&quot;))
          repository.save(Customer(&quot;Chloe&quot;, &quot;O'Brian&quot;))
          repository.save(Customer(&quot;Kim&quot;, &quot;Bauer&quot;))
          repository.save(Customer(&quot;David&quot;, &quot;Palmer&quot;))
          repository.save(Customer(&quot;Michelle&quot;, &quot;Dessler&quot;))
      }
  }
  
  fun main(args: Array&lt;String&gt;) {
      SpringApplication.run(Application::class.java, *args)
  }
  </code></pre>