How is access to memory cells implemented in programming?

In programming, access to a memory cell is usually done through pointers or references that contain the address of that cell. In low-level languages, such as C, you can work directly with memory addresses through pointers. In Python, however, memory access is abstracted: variables refer to objects, and access to data occurs through these references.

For example, in Python, a variable is a reference to an object in memory:

x = [1, 2, 3]
y = x  # y refers to the same object in memory

Thus, access to data occurs through variables that point to objects in memory, not directly by address.