experts disagree on "call-by-reference"

[Paul Foley]

On 1 Aug 2000 01:47:16 GMT, (Greg Weeks) wrote:

> : Yes, exactly.  "Pass by whatever" has never really applied to
> : Lisp-like call semantics, Greg Weeks' protestations about "the old way
> : of speaking" notwithstanding.

> Again, these are words that you like to use.  Winston and Sussman like
> different words (eg, that Lisp is call by value).  Are you saying that they
> are flat-out wrong to use those words?

OK: Yes, they're flat out wrong to call it "call by value"!  But let
me qualify that by adding: given that some people will read that to
mean what it means in Pascal.  However, several people have suggested
"call by object" as a good name for what's actually happening, and I
see no good reason to distinguish between "objects" and "values", so
"call by value" is actually a perfectly good description -- it just
doesn't mean quite what you want it to mean.

-- 
And ælc þara þe gehierð þas min word, and þa ne wyrcþ, se bið gelic þæm
dysigan menn...

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