Pointers and Objects in Python

If you’ve ever worked with lower-level languages like C or C++, then you may have heard of pointers. Pointers are essentially variables that hold the memory address of another variable. They allow you to create great efficiency in parts of your code but can lead to various memory management bugs.

You’ll learn about Python’s object model and see why pointers in Python don’t really exist. For the cases where you need to mimic pointer behavior, you’ll learn ways to simulate pointers in Python without managing memory.

In this course, you’ll:

• Learn why pointers in Python don’t exist
• Explore the difference between C variables and Python names
• Simulate pointers in Python
• Experiment with real pointers using ctypes