Intermediate Python user needed help

[Roy Smith]

In article <mailman.2972.1344200565.4697.python-list at python.org>,
 Tim Chase <python.list at tim.thechases.com> wrote:

> On 08/05/12 15:52, John Mordecai Dildy wrote:
> > Current Problem at the moment
> > 
> > Traceback (most recent call last):
> >   File "ex26.py", line 66, in <module>
> >     beans, jars, crates = secret_formula(start-point)
> > NameError: name 'start' is not defined
> > 
> > anyone know how to make start defined
> 
> "start-point" is not a valid identifier as the "-" isn't permitted
> in a variable name.  This is the case for just about every language
> out there.  HTML/XML & CSS are the only languages that come to my
> mind in which the dash is considered a valid part of an identifier.
> 
> You either mean something like "start_point" (with an underscore
> instead of a minus), or you're performing a subtraction of "start
> minus point", in which case you'd have to assign those values before
> you use them.

Or he meant to pass an optional parameter:

    beans, jars, crates = secret_formula(start=point)

or an element access:

    beans, jars, crates = secret_formula(start.point)

or a bunch of other possibilities.