Terminology: "reference" versus "pointer"

[Akira Li]

Random832 <random832 at fastmail.com> writes:

> On Mon, Sep 14, 2015, at 13:45, Akira Li wrote:
>>    [box + arrow pointing to] + object == parcel tag + object
>
> The problem is that if there are multiple namespaces, or if you've also
> got to include references from within other objects such as list, then
> you've got to write all that somehow on the parcel tag, instead of just
> having different places the arrows can start from.
>
> The box and arrow model easily extends to this, and the fact that no-one
> can make up their mind on what to *call* the thing the arrows represent
> doesn't mean they don't exist.

box has arrow, parcel tag has string/thread.
We could attach an arrow instead of a string to the parcel tag.

The box does not contain anything inside (we can attach the arrow
outside the box -- nothing changes).

If the box does not contain anything then we could use a parcel tag
instead.