Steven D'Aprano wrote: > def modify_in_place(obj): > """Modify an arbitrary object in place.""" > obj = None > > x = [1, 2, 3] # mutable object > modify_in_place(x) > assert x is None > > > Doesn't work either.
To be fair, this isn't because the function is not pass by reference, but because the assignment operator reassigns the reference rather than altering the referent, and thus modify_in_place doesn't actually contain any modifying operations. With a good understanding of what Python's assignment operator actually does, (I believe) you can view Python as pass-by-reference without any semantic problems. -- Ben Sizer -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
