Terminology: "reference" versus "pointer"

[Emile van Sebille]

On 9/14/2015 10:34 AM, Random832 wrote:

> Personally I think it's a bit silly to insist on a diagram model where a
> box with an arrow in it pointing at an int object can't be represented
> by a box with an integer in it (where 'int' is any immutable type -
> string, tuple, even range), but people don't like boxes with integers in
> them for some reason.

Actually, boxes with integers in them isn't the appropriate analogy. 
Consider the naming of cats.  My cat is known to me as Paddy.  My next 
door neighbor sometimes feeds her and is known to her as Stripes.  The 
cat also is known as kitty to my youngest daughter.  The cat has no idea 
what its name is, it just is and eats.  So three labels, one object. 
Putting the object in three boxes isn't right -- how could you know 
(other than checking the id()) that they're the same?

Shroedingers-cat-was-just-a-cat-in-a-box-too-ly y'rs,

Emile