Title: Discussion 5 — Boxes vs. Labels
Course: AIINFRA 100: AI Systems & Development Environments > Section: Week 05 — Python for AI — Fundamentals

💬 Discussion 5 — Boxes vs. Labels (20 pts)

This week's lecture argued that a Python variable is better understood as a name/label pointing to an object, not a box holding a value — and that this distinction becomes very visible with mutable objects like lists. In your own words, describe a moment (from this week's lab, from the lecture examples, or from your own experimenting) where thinking of a variable as a "label" instead of a "box" helped you understand what Python was actually doing — or where the "box" mental model would have led you to the wrong prediction. Be specific: include a small code snippet if you can. Then, respond to at least two classmates: does their example match your own understanding of labels vs. boxes? Can you think of a related situation (e.g., with dicts) where the same idea would apply?