Alter list items within loop

[Lie Ryan]

Tim Harig wrote:
> On 2009-06-11, Duncan Booth <duncan.booth at invalid.invalid> wrote:
>> Tim Harig <usernet at ilthio.net> wrote:
>>>> number 3 never gets printed. Does Python make a copy of a list before
>>>> it iterates through it?:
>>> No, complex types are passed by reference unless explicity copied. 
>> *All* types are passed by reference unless explicitly copied. Python does 
>> make special cases for simple and complex types.
> 
> That is technically true; but, you will not have this issue with simple
> singlular data types.  Technically the difference as to whether you will
> have this problem depends on whether or not an object is mutable.
> Simple objects (numbers and strings) are all immutable. Since this issue
> revolves around changing objects in place, it cannot arise with immutable
> objects.  I am not always conscous of whether I am working with objects
> that are mutable or immutable; but, I am generally concious of the general
> complexity of the object.  Whenever I am working with objects that are
> complex, I am reminded to watch out for mutability issues.  So, while it is not
> totally correct to think of it this way, I find it an easier guideline to
> follow.

Everything is passed as an object[1], no matter how simple or complex,
mutable or immutable.

This can be seen:

>>> def foo(a):
...     print id(a)
...
>>> b = 10
>>> id(b)
8578336
>>> foo(b)
8578336

[1] internally as PyObject pointer but that's implementation detail