Modifying Class Object

[Alf P. Steinbach]

* Mark Lawrence:
> Alf P. Steinbach wrote:
>>
>> An extremely long thread dedicated to the notion that there are no 
>> references in Python (which is blatantly false), coupled with personal 
>> attacks on the one person arguing that there are. I could easily think 
>> that you were having me on. Of course most anyone else who'd hold the 
>> rational opinion would not join the battlefield, because it clearly 
>> wasn't and isn't about convincing or educating anyone, but I feel that 
>> follow-ups to my articles should be answered.
[snippety]
> 
> I'm intrigued by your comments over the last couple of weeks, as you 
> obviously know so much more about Python than people who have been 
> working on it and/or using it for the 20 odd years of the existence of 
> the language.

I don't.

On the other hand, it's a fallacy to think other people must be perfect.

The glossary of my Python 3.1.1 documentation defines

   "Reference count:
   The number of references to an object. [...]"

And so arguing against the existence of assignable references in Python would be 
silly if it was a genuine technical discussion.

But I suspect that, in spite of my /first article's/ reference and frequent 
later references to term definitions etc., many who posted in this thread 
thought they were arguing against some other point of view, in the frenzy not 
bothering to check out things or actually /read/ what they replied to.

So, as demonstrated, assuming that you were referring to people participating in 
this thread, people who have used a language for 20 odd years can still be wrong 
about something  --  even when that something is utterly trivial.


>  Is it safe to assume that shortly you will be telling the 
> scientific community that Einstein was a complete bozo and that his 
> theory of relativity is crap, or that Stephen (Bob?) Hawking knows 
> nothing about the origins of the universe?
> 
> To put it another way, please stand up Alf, your voice is rather 
> muffled.  And this isn't an ad hominem attack

Your response *is not* a personal attack?

Then why are you trying to imply all kinds of things about my person, and not 
mentioning anything technical?

Is there anything in the above, about assignable references, that you really 
think is on a par with relativity and requires Einstein's genius to understand?


>, whatever the hell that 
> means, I (NOTE I ) personally wish you'd bugger off and leave the 
> bandwidth to people who genuinely want to discuss Python, computing 
> algorithms, whatever.
> 
> And please do NOT bother to reply.  Your pathetic smileys and/or HTH 
> garbage cut no ice with me.  I'm quite simply staggered that the Python 
> community as a whole have shown far more patience than I have, otherwise 
> you'd have been shot down in seriously bad flames days ago.
> 
> To you, Alf, get stuffed.

Are you sure that this is not a personal attack?

Just curious how you manage to think it couldn't be.


Cheers & hth., ;-)

- Alf