On Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:45:06 -0000, <ru...@yahoo.com> wrote:
When I started using Python I had no problem with Python's assignment semantics because I had been using references in Perl for years. I did not have a very hard time with Perl's references, after I recognized their similarities to C's pointers. But as I recall, it took a *long* time to wrap my mind around C pointers.
I'd suggest that part of the reason for that is C's blurring of the line between arrays and pointers. You can treat them interchangeably enough of the time that when you can't it catches you by surprise. My experience of teaching twelve-year olds Python is that they understand assignment when it's explained in terms of giving names to these objects (numbers, strings, wombats...) that we've already shown them. It's a lot harder to get them to understand the "putting an object into a labelled box" model when working with other languages. I don't know why this should be, but it is. -- Rhodri James *-* Wildebeeste Herder to the Masses -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
