ru...@yahoo.com <ru...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Is not the proper term "aliasing"? Perhaps Python "variables" should > be called "alises".
No. The proper term is most definitely `binding': see SICP, for example. (Wikipedia has a link to the full text.) The topic of `aliasing' deals with a problem in compiler implementation, where certain optimizations are valid only if two objects are known not to share storage, so that mutating one won't alter the other. This is a particular problem for C, since C programs makes heavy use of pointers; also, Fortran semantics allow the compiler to assume that aliasing does not occur in a number of places, and C compiler writers are keen to keep up with Fortran performance levels. In a wider context, `aliases' tend to be /additional/ names for things, with the connotation of being secondary to some primary or canonical name. For example, Linux 2.2 network interfaces had `aliases', which were additional logical interfaces associated with the physical interface, but with different (but related) names and distinct addresses. Nowadays, Linux network interfaces can have multiple addresses anyway, and the idea of aliases is left as a compatibility hack. -- [mdw] -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
