Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.pyt...@pearwood.info> writes: > On Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:47:49 +1100, Ben Finney wrote: > > >> An integer variable is a variable holding an integer. A string variable > >> is a variable holding a string. A list variable is a variable holding a > >> list. > > > > And Python has none of those. Its references don't “hold” anything. > > Ah, but they do. Following the name binding: > > x = 1 > > the name "x" now holds a reference to an int, or if you want to cut out > one layer of indirection, the name "x" holds an int. That is to say, the > value associated with the name "x" is an int.
Names don't hold anything. Not in natural language, and not in Python. Which is exactly *why* the term “name” is a good one, since Python's bindings don't hold anything either. It's a reference, not a container. > I don't believe this is a troublesome concept. Then you have a different concept of “name” from anything I'd expect anyone to understand. > > I appreciate that you think “variable” is a useful term in Python, > > but this kind of mangling of the concept convinces me that it's not > > worth it. > > I'm not sure that there is any mangling here. Or at least, the concept > is only mangled if you believe that Pascal- or C-like variables (named > memory locations) are the one true definition of "variable". I do not > believe this. The fact that you keep having to come back to container analogies, when that's exactly what Python doesn't have and what differentiates it, is why I think the term “variable” isn't helping the discussion. Not for us, and not for newcomers to the language. > Words vary in their meanings Of course they do. but we don't have to let any word mean any arbitrary thing. I reject attempts to Humpty Dumpty our way through discussions with newcomers about Python concepts. -- \ “Simplicity and elegance are unpopular because they require | `\ hard work and discipline to achieve and education to be | _o__) appreciated.” —Edsger W. Dijkstra | Ben Finney -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list