anything like C++ references?

[Stephen Horne]

On Wed, 16 Jul 2003 06:26:01 -0700, Michael Chermside
<mcherm at mcherm.com> wrote:

>I submit that you may find this be a more useful way to view things --
>not that Python's implementation of assignment fails to match your
>expectation, but that Python provides no true access to "values", only
>to the more complex construct "objects" (although a strong equivalence
>exists  for immutable types).
>
>Do you find this alternate explanation useful?

I first wrote more or less this same thing a few days ago, as a
description of what is wrong.

It's a long thread though, and I seem to have written most of it.

Just to explain, in maths, variables bind to values. There are no
objects in maths, even though maths does have abstract data types,
algorithms and even assignments. IMO a 'very high level' programming
language should act as if variables are bound to values by default. It
should only behave differently if you explicitly say otherwise.

I suspect all the possible arguments against have already been made.