On 31 Mar 2005 08:13:30 GMT, Duncan Booth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > But surely if you create an integer object and assign it a value, e.g. > > a = 3, > > why shouldn't Python be able to tell you something like the following: > > name(a) >>> 'a' > > ? > > But why should it return 'a' and not one of these?
Because the python interpreter certainly knows the name of all the variables used in a python program. So, a name() function as discussed here should return the name of the exact variable passed in as input, not any variable which refers to the value 3 (which is of course constant). We're imagining a new function, not discussing yours. . > > The key here is to understand the difference between languages like C where > a variable is a container used to store a value and Python where variables > are simply the binding of names to objects. I don't see any technical barrier to implementing a name() function, except that either the current CPython doesn't allow this particular reflection from python, or it's difficult to do. Just because a variable is simply a name binding doesn't mean Python couldn't return the name of the binding. I'm not definitely saying that I *want* an easy name() function - there's a lot of potential for abuse - but I would at least like to see it accomplished before I decide whether I like it or not. Peace Bill Mill bill.mill at gmail.com -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
