Beginner question - How to effectively pass a large list

[Bruno Desthuilliers]

J.R. wrote:
> Hi folks,
> 
> The python can only support passing value in function call (right?),

let's see :
 >>> l = range(5)
 >>> def modif(alist): alist[0] = 'allo'
...
 >>> l
[0, 1, 2, 3, 4]
 >>> modif(l)
 >>> l
['allo', 1, 2, 3, 4]

Er... Ok, let's try something else :
 

 >>> class Toto:
...     pass
...
 >>> t = Toto()
 >>> t.name = "Toto"
 >>> def rename(t): t.name = "Titi"
...
 >>> t
<__main__.Toto instance at 0x402dccec>
 >>> t.name
'Toto'
 >>> rename(t)
 >>> t
<__main__.Toto instance at 0x402dccec>
 >>> t.name
'Titi'


Well... You may want to read more about bindings (not 'assignements') in 
Python.

(hint : it already *does* work like pointers in C[++] - at least for 
mutable objects).

Bruno