From: pjb@... (Pascal J. Bourguignon)
Date: 2009-09-11T17:30:06+09:00
Subject: Re: How Are Variables Kept Independent of Each Other Yet Pass Values?

Mason Kelsey <masonkelsey@gmail.com> writes:

> Still, for the old timers coming from a COBOL environment, this is a bit of
> an annoyance.  And any instructor needs to be sure that the students
> understand the significance of variables being objects.  They cannot just
> say, "X is an object" and expect the student to extrapolate.  They need to
> explicitly tell the student how to transfer a value from one object to
> another.

Actually, the analogy that is often taught is that of "naming".

You have objects who live independent lifes, and  you can give them names.
To some objects, for whatever reason, you may want to give several names.

pascalBourguignon = Person.new({:height => 1.90})
pjb = pascalBourguignon # as he is known in some irc channels.
informatimago = pascalBourguignon # as he may be known in some other internet circles
pascal = pascalBourguignon # as he's known familiarly.


But there is still only one entity.  (Unfortunately, I'd wish to be
able to be cloned as easily as copying data is).  You can call that
entity by whatever name.

pascal.eat(cake)
pjb.writeProgram(specifications)
pascalBourguignon.getPaid(amount)

in all cases, its' the same object who works.


-- 
__Pascal Bourguignon__