A question on modification of a list via a function invocation

[Chris Angelico]

On Mon, Sep 4, 2017 at 8:12 PM, Rustom Mody <rustompmody at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Monday, September 4, 2017 at 1:46:55 PM UTC+5:30, Gregory Ewing wrote:
>> Stefan Ram wrote:
>> >   JavaScript and Python do not have references as values
>>
>> Yes, they do. The difference is that they don't have any
>> way of *not* having references as values, so there's less
>> need to use the word explicitly in that way -- most of
>> the time it's just understood.
>
> Well then why these long threads that get nowhere 😎?

Because these threads are populated by people who know other
languages. You can explain Python's semantics with pencil and paper
(or, as I like to do it, with a deck of cards and some tetrapaks of
sugar) to someone who's never used C, and there's no confusion. The
concepts of "pass by value" and "pass by reference" are as irrelevant
as the precise semantics of decades-old CPUs or the replacement
frequency of valves.

ChrisA