[TriZPUG] "Use of the Words 'Variable' and 'Assignment' Considered Harmful in Python"

[Jim Allman]

On Sep 29, 2011, at 1:20 PM, Chris Calloway wrote:

> The harm is twofold. Firstly, 'variable' and 'identifier' have very precise meanings in computer science that are language-independent.

Very nice, my brain thanks you for boiling it down to simple, distinct terms.

This explains why people accustomed to statically-typed languages--those with explicit, invariable types for each variable--get the willies when looking at Python. And why you have to explain that Python is a strongly- but dynamically-typed language. 

(OK, I probably fumbled that somehow. Corrections gratefully accepted!)

Neat discussion and several explanations here:
http://wiki.python.org/moin/Why%20is%20Python%20a%20dynamic%20language%20and%20also%20a%20strongly%20typed%20language

  =jimA=