Steven D'Aprano <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> But neither is it call by reference. If it were call by reference, I could
> write something like this:
>
> def increment(n):
> """Add one to the argument changing it in place."""
> # In Pascal, I would need the var keyword to get this behaviour,
> # but Python is call by reference so all variables are passed
> # by reference.
> n += 1
>
> x = 1
> increment(x)
> assert x == 2
>
> but that doesn't work in Python either.
Yes, it doesn't work, but the reason it doesn't work isn't because
Python doesn't do call-by-reference.
> So Python behaves demonstrably different from BOTH call by value and call
> by reference. Consequently, it is neither of them.
Right. *Python* behaves differently. That's not the same thing as
Python's calling behaving differently. If you choose objects that are
behave the same in both languages, Python behaves *exactly* like
call-by-reference.
You can show the same difference in behavior between Python and C (for
example) without using a function call.
Here's C:
#include <assert.h>
main() {
int i, *ref ;
i = 1 ;
ref = &i ; /* Save identity of i */
i = 2 ;
assert(ref == &i) ;
}
This runs just fine; i is the same object throughout the program.
On the other hand, the equivalent Python:
>>> i = 1
>>> ref = id(i) # Save the identity of i
>>> i = 2
>>> assert ref == id(i)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
AssertionError
>>>
Blows up - i is no longer the same object.
Python does call by reference, which means that it passes pointers to
objects by value. C is call by value, faking call by reference by
passing reference values. The real difference is that in C, you can
get a reference to a variable to pass, allowing you to change the
variable. In python, you can't get a reference to a name (one of the
reasons we call them "names" instead of "variables"), so you can't
pass a value that will let the called function change it.
<mike
--
Mike Meyer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.mired.org/home/mwm/
Independent WWW/Perforce/FreeBSD/Unix consultant, email for more information.
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