[Edu-sig] Python for Algorithms and Data Structures...

[Markus Gritsch]

Seabrook, Richard wrote:
>  
> I think both views have merit.  On one hand, pointers aren't essential
> for any particular algorithm, they are a subject in and of themselves
> requiring considerable exposure and experimentation to grasp.

Agreed.

> On the
> other, languages that do not have pointers invariably get into some
> explanation difficulties sooner or later.  For example, in Python some 
> copying and assignment operations result in two names referring to the
> same object, rather than two unique objects.  In languages with pointers
> this is much easier to explain, once students grasp the idea of a pointer.
> Dick S.

I think that the lack of pointers in Python is no shortcoming as long as 
you explain to the students, that the assignment operator actually 
assigns the *reference* of an object to the new object and that only in 
the case of immutable types a new object is created.

For me this is as easy to grasp as the concept of pointers, but probably 
it's just a matter of taste.

Being-totally-happy-with-just-references yr's
Markus