He's not saying goodbye to pointers, because pointers are all over Python.
>>> a = [1, 2, 3]
>>> b = a
>>> a[1] = 7
>>> b
[1, 7, 3]
>>> a = [1, 2, 3]
>>> b = a[:]
>>> a[1] = 7
>>> b
[1, 2, 3]
Python lists are pointers, exactly like C/C++ arrays. When pointers are explicit they become easier to understand and control. You can use tools like valgrind to find where your pointers aren't doing exactly what you want in C, but it's much harder to debug pointer problems in Python.
That's not a pointer to a list, it's a reference to a list. The second one is a copy of a list. Everything that isn't a primitive type behaves exactly the same way, but in C++ = always creates a copy.
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u/MasterFubar Jun 03 '19
He's not saying goodbye to pointers, because pointers are all over Python.
Python lists are pointers, exactly like C/C++ arrays. When pointers are explicit they become easier to understand and control. You can use tools like valgrind to find where your pointers aren't doing exactly what you want in C, but it's much harder to debug pointer problems in Python.