On Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:25:23 +0000, Arnaud Delobelle wrote: > John Posner <jjpos...@optimum.net> writes: [...] >>> x = s[0] > [...] >> assigns the name *x* to the object that *s[0]* refers to > > s[0] does not refer to an object, it *is* an object (once evaluated of > course, otherwise it's just a Python expression).
Precisely. Treated as an expression, that is, as a string being evaluated by the compiler, we would say that it *refers to* an object (unless evaluation fails, in which case it refers to nothing at all). But treated as whatever you get after the compiler is done with it, that is, post- evaluation, we would say that it *is* an object. This subtle distinction is essentially the difference between a label and the thing that is labeled. -- Steven -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
