Steven D'Aprano <st...@remove-this-cybersource.com.au> writes: > On Sat, 13 Nov 2010 21:42:03 +0000, Mark Wooding wrote: > > > Dave Angel <da...@ieee.org> writes: > > > >> No, an (=) assignment is always an assignment. > > > > No. In `foo[0] = bar' it's a method call in disguise. > > How does that imply that can't also be an assignment?
Is `splat(34)' an assignment? If so, I think the term's meaning is grievously diluted. I'd rather say that `splat(34)' might mutate a value, or have side effects, and reserve the term `assignment' for the job of explaining how variables work. That seems pretty tricky, because we're arguing about it a lot, so I think we need sharply defined concepts so that we don't get more confused than we have to be. > Of course, you're correct that it's not *necessarily* an assignment, [...] > I don't think it helps to overload newbies struggling with the basics > with such pathological cases though. I think that we're better off giving `newbies' a conceptual framework which is robust, so that they can understand pathological situations when they occur. -- [mdw] -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
