You're right. While pointers can be made to fit, it would be an awkward fit into Python and could introduce overheads even when not used.
My use of them is frequently when straddling boundaries between languages (a pointer in one environment points to the data of another), or when working just outside the language's object system, or using pointers to raw machine types that are not reference counted. This would not be disciplined enough for Python. So forget I mentioned them even though they could open up interesting possibilities such as reference parameters. -- Bart -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
