In <m2my7gb4g6....@cs.uu.nl> Piet van Oostrum <p...@cs.uu.nl> writes:
>>>>>> kj <no.em...@please.post> (k) wrote: >>k> I'm having a hard time coming up with a reasonable way to explain >>k> certain things to programming novices. >>k> Consider the following interaction sequence: >>>>>> def eggs(some_int, some_list, some_tuple): >>k> ... some_int += 2 >>k> ... some_list += [2] >>k> ... some_tuple += (2,) >>k> ... >>>>>> x = 42 >>>>>> y = (42,) >>>>>> z = [42] >>>>>> eggs(x, y, z) >>>>>> x >>k> 42 >>>>>> y >>k> (42,) >>>>>> z >>k> [42, 2] >>>>>> >>k> How do I explain to rank beginners (no programming experience at >>k> all) why x and y remain unchanged above, but not z? >You shouldn't. That's not for beginners. No, of course not. And I don't plan to present these examples to them. But beginners have a way of bumping into such conundrums all on their own, and, as a former beginner myself, I can tell you that they find them, at best, extremely frustrating, and at worst, extremely discouraging. I doubt that an answer of the form "don't worry your pretty little head over this now; wait until your second course" will do the trick. Thanks for your comments! kj -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
