Peter Drake, he/him, LFHCfS 🔥 @peterdrake@social.cleverlibre.org

@spencer @cartocalypse Oh, that's right -- but you have to declare b to be of type &int instead of int, right?

I have more experience with Java, which uses the word "reference" to mean "non-primitive" (and thus subject to aliasing), but doesn't allow this sort of thing.

@trinsec It's a flow/fire arts prop consisting of a rope with a ball of fire on each end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W2mPP7gF6E

@BreadAndSalt And the sponsor is a Democrat?! In Oregon?!

@spencer @cartocalypse Is there a language that does it that way? I would find it surprising.

There is the related notion of passing function parameters by reference, which (IIRC) C++ and C# allow. Python and Java pass by value; the passed value is always a reference in Python.

@grrrr_shark @davidr @futurebird But there's a prerequisite:

https://www.routledge.com/Discrete-Mathematics-with-Ducks/belcastro/p/book/9780367570705

@cartocalypse In Python, everything is an object and variables hold references to objects.

In Java, in contrast, a few things (primitive values like ints and chars) are NOT objects, so variables hold them directly.

The main consequence of a reference is the possibility of aliasing. If you

a = [1, 2, 3]
b = a
a[0] = 10

then b is [10, 2, 3].

The line b = a above makes a second reference to the list rather than copying the list, so modifying the list affects a and b.

Objects like Python ints and strings are immutable (can't be modified), so the programmer can largely ignore whether variables hold them directly or hold references to them. It is possible to tell whether two variables refer to the same object by using the "is" operator.

@DukeDuke I'm told that, in fact, coyotes are faster than roadrunners.

@htdrake It takes a computer to do it, but you can cheat in the same way with Hangman.

http://nifty.stanford.edu/2011/schwarz-evil-hangman/

@onemoment @LabPlot See also the deluxe version: the Datasaurus Dozen.

https://blog.revolutionanalytics.com/2017/05/the-datasaurus-dozen.html

@DrSuzanne Terrified! The steering wheel is on the wrong side, it runs on Nutella, and because of the metric system it has ten tires!

@engelbart Nothing. I didn't know this person terribly well, so it's merely odd to me. I understand that others have been traumatized by automated suggestions to reconnect with dead loved ones, abusive exes, etc.