On Sat, May 23, 2009 at 7:43 PM, kirby urner <kirby.ur...@gmail.com> wrote: > I filed the following quick comment after viewing a six minute > tutorial on variables and values at ShowMeDo. > > The video: > > http://showmedo.com/videotutorials/video?name=6950010&fromSeriesID=695 > > My comment: > """ > idea that values are "stored into" a variable is less the metaphor in > Python,
Yes, it is a relic of assembly language. A variable is not a section of memory. It is a pronoun which can have different referents at different times. One object can be referred to by many different personal names and a variety of pronouns at the same time. This is easier to explain in Japanese, which has numerous and ever-shifting sets of pronouns. "I" in English can currently correspond to o watashi o atashi o atai o boku o ore Historically, people could also have three, four, even a dozen personal names, some chosen for various private or public purposes, some awarded by teachers, some (rarely) awarded by the Emperor, and so on. > which is more about assigning or binding names to objects with > the assignment operator (=). The problem with "store into" is then > its hard to picture many names for the same object, yet that's easy > when you think of a balloon with many strings. > """ > For example, the so-called "equal sign" (=) would be better called an > "assignment operator" as most of us here do. We would do better to use a different symbol entirely. The only reason for the massive overloading practiced in conventional programming languages is the utterly obsolete ASCII character set. APL has used the left-pointing arrow '←' for assignment for decades, and treated '=' as a Boolean function returning a truth value. Just as APL has used the correct '×' and '÷' rather than overloading ASCII characters further. J distinguishes the function '=' from assignment '=.'. > To make this link stick we could explain how the two parallel lines > represent "opening a channel to" i.e. now this name (on the left) will > be able to communicate with the object on the right (some result of > evaluation). -1 > Kirby > > PS: do Python's where Prada? > http://fashionshops.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/prada-ad-campaign-ss-2009/ > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig@python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig -- Silent Thunder (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) is my name And Children are my nation. The Cosmos is my dwelling place, The Truth my destination. http://earthtreasury.org/worknet (Edward Mokurai Cherlin) _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
