In python, variables do not represent the portion of computer's memory where their value is written, but tags pointing to object

Question

Please explain this.I don't get this line properly.

Answer 1

Rajan.K(ராஜ ராஜன் , ראג'ה ראג'אן ,Раджа Раджан)

I think these links do a great job of explaining how variables in Python work differently from many other languages.

https://realpython.com/python-variables/#object-references

https://medium.com/@abdullah.tech/python-variables-are-pointers-c8b85880f21e

https://jakevdp.github.io/WhirlwindTourOfPython/03-semantics-variables.html

Consider the following line:

i = 10

In many other languages, the value (10) is assigned to some memory address ( 0xF3 ) of the named variable ( i ).

However, in Python, the following steps occur:

1. The value (10) is first assigned to some memory address ( 0x54 ) as a nameless object.

2. Then, the named variable ( i ) at memory address ( 0xF3 ) is assigned the reference value ( 0x54 ) instead of the value (10).

So... i = 10 is essentially:

0x54 = 10
i at 0xF3 = 0x54

The variable ( i ) at 0xF3 is pointing to the object at 0x54 which contains the value 10.

Hopefully, this makes sense.

Answer 2

Rajan.K(ராஜ ராஜன் , ראג'ה ראג'אן ,Раджа Раджан)

I will try to write this in a different way.

In python, variables do not represent the portion of computer memory where their value is written.

In python, variables are but tags pointing to an object.

Answer 3

David Carroll Great analysis 👍