On 5/7/14 8:31 PM, Chris Angelico wrote:
On Thu, May 8, 2014 at 4:11 AM, Mark H Harris <harrismh...@gmail.com> wrote:
And we must never forget that CPython's underpinnings, uhm C, uses
variables, C ones... (never mind)
Be careful of this one. It's utterly irrelevant to your point, and may
be distracting. I could implement Ook in Python; does that mean that
Ook has a socket library? Clearly not.
Probably. Although, its turtles all the way down. C is a better way
to write asm code (more efficient, less lines of code, better
abstraction, way more readable). wow, use C to build Python. Python is
requires way less lines of code than C, better abstraction, more
efficient, and way more readable. Now, down under the stack of turtles,
we are still placing values into memory boxes (variables) although we
are getting there from a very abstract and indirect way; but its turtles
all the way down from a certain point of view.
On the other hand, if we are coming at this from the highest level
(strictly pure Python coding) all we care about is abstracting the real
world by constructing objects which interact with the rest of the world
and with themselves. We are no longer interested in modeling memory
(although that does happen somewhere) --- what we are interested in is
modeling life and the objects of life. The mechanism of {name: object}
is so far above the simple name -- value pair mechanism we used to call
'variables' (boxes holding native types) that we really need some new
name for the concept... is a Python 'name' a variable. No. Then what is
it? If we call it a variable (what ever we mean by that) someone is
going to be confused as they try to write Python code. What should it be
referred to?
Someone said it is silly to say that Python has no variables. I
disagree. We need a way to speak about Python variables that highlights
the distinctions which create for new coders (and some old ones too) the
misunderstandings and surprises which spark a debate like this one. As
someone else pointed out its a both|and. I suppose I agree. OTOH:
A = 7
Seven is not a C integer native type, and A is not a static int
variable. 7 is an object, and the name A is bound to it. What shall we
call A ?
object nomenclature : A is objname, objhandle, OBH. or just handle.
I think we need to stop calling it a variable.
marcus
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