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Variables and objects: it's pointers all the way down

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Trey Hunner

https://pretalx.northbaypython.org/nbpy-2025/talk/XVXLJ3

In Python, assignment statements don't copy objects, and data structures don't actually contain objects. These two surprising facts have a lot of interesting consequences and are the reason behind many of Python's design decisions.

In this talk, we'll explore the reference-like nature of Python's variables and objects, noting both the benefits and gotchas involved.

Among other ideas, we'll see that in Python:

  • The word "change" is ambiguous
  • Copying is usually explicit
  • Infinitely recursive data structures aren't a concern
  • And tuples aren't always immutable

During the process, we'll poke at our own mental model of Python and we'll get a bit pedantic at times.

Join us to learn how in Python, it's pointers (or references, names, bindings, or aliases) all the way down.

Sun Apr 27 15:15:00 2025 at Reis River Ranch

Produced by NDV: https://youtube.com/channel/UCQ7dFBzZGlBvtU2hCecsBBg?sub_confirmation=1

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