You can write this more easily as:
```
degf = (0,)*(k-1)
```
This just uses the usual Python syntax like:
```
>>> [1, 2]*3
[1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2]
>>> (1, 2)*3
(1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2)
>>> [1]*3
[1, 1, 1]
>>> (1,)*3
(1, 1, 1)
```