equivalent to c++ "reference" or "pointers"

[Collin Jones]

Hello,

Is there a Python equivalent to creating "reference" or "pointer"-type
variables as in C++??  I'm trying to create a couple classes that have
something like a container-and-iterator relationship; one class acts as a
data resource (container-like) and can be queried by multiple control
classes if needed (iterator-like).

If it's of any use, one class will contain all the frames of an animation
and its attributes, and the other will query the former for image data and
those attributes but control the actual animation process on its own.

Here is a simple (albeit crappily written) example, in C++, of what I'm
trying to achieve.  Perhaps in Python I should be using a different paradigm
than this... that would be fine, as long as I can figure out something that
will serve my purpose.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

class CrazyRes {
private:
    char *astring, *bstring;
public:
    void setAString(char *s);
    void setBString(char *s);
    char *getAString() { return astring; }
    char *getBString() { return bstring; }
};
void CrazyRes::setAString(char *s)
{
    astring = new char[255];
    strcpy(astring, s);
}
void CrazyRes::setBString(char *s)
{
    bstring = new char[255];
    strcpy(bstring, s);
}

class CrazyCtrl {
private:
    CrazyRes *res;
    public:
    void attach(CrazyRes *r) { res = r; }
    void printAString() { cout << res->getAString(); }
    void printBString() { cout << res->getBString(); }
};

int main()
{
    CrazyRes res;
    CrazyCtrl ctrl;

    res.setAString("Hey! A-String!\n");
    res.setBString("Whoa! B-String!\n");

    ctrl.attach(&res);
    ctrl.printAString();
    ctrl.printBString();

    return 0;
}

I tried to keep this to the point... thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Colin
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