>>>>> "Rhodri James" <rho...@wildebst.demon.co.uk> (RJ) wrote:
>RJ> On Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:55:45 +0100, Hrvoje Niksic <hnik...@xemacs.org> >wrote: >>> Ben Finney <ben+pyt...@benfinney.id.au> writes: >>> >>>> Utpal Sarkar <doe...@gmail.com> writes: >>>> >>>>> Is there a way I can tell a variable that the object it is pointing >>>>> too is not owned by it, in the sense that if it is the only reference >>>>> to the object it can be garbage collected? >>>> >>>> Python doesn't have “pointers”, and doesn't really have “variables” >>>> either, at least not how many other languages use that term. >>> >>> The OP didn't use the term "pointer", but the word "pointing", which >>> makes sense in the context. The term "variable" is used in the Python >>> language reference and elsewhere, and is quite compatible with how other >>> popular languages (Java, PHP, Lisp, ...) use it. >RJ> Only superficially. Treating Python variables the same as C variables >RJ> (say) is one of the classic ways that newbies come unstuck when mutable >RJ> objects appear on the scene. While the OP appears to have the right idea, >RJ> your "correction" here could be quite misleading. If you read the OP, it is clear that he talked about a class variable, which is a perfectly legal notion in Python, and is mentioned as such in the language reference manual: `Variables defined in the class definition are class variables' And who was talking about C variables? -- Piet van Oostrum <p...@cs.uu.nl> URL: http://pietvanoostrum.com [PGP 8DAE142BE17999C4] Private email: p...@vanoostrum.org -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
