Passing an integer by reference in Python

Question

How can I pass an integer by reference in Python?

I want to modify the value of a variable that I am passing to the function. I have read that everything in Python i

Answer 1

Most cases where you would need to pass by reference are where you need to return more than one value back to the caller. A "best practice" is to use multiple return values, which is much easier to do in Python than in languages like Java.

Here's a simple example:

def RectToPolar(x, y):
    r = (x ** 2 + y ** 2) ** 0.5
    theta = math.atan2(y, x)
    return r, theta # return 2 things at once

r, theta = RectToPolar(3, 4) # assign 2 things at once