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I knew that in Python all variables are really references to objects (even when we're using a number) - is JavaScript the same way?

Also, does anyone have a link/reference to the place in the spec where it specifies this? I briefly skimmed through parts of [1] but couldn't find anything that says that JavaScript treats numbers this way.

[1] https://tc39.es/ecma262/multipage/#sec-intro

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I don't think there's an explicit reference in the JavaScript spec to numbers being treated this way, because this is how all variables are treated in JavaScript - the relevant part of the specification is probably the definition of the "PutValue" abstract operation[1], which doesn't include any special cases for numbers (or other primitive types) vs. objects.

[1] https://tc39.es/ecma262/multipage/ecmascript-data-types-and-...

As I understand it, JavaScript does have a distinction between the primitive types and Object, but this does not show up in any significant way to the programmer / in any way relevant to how to view variables. To put it differently, the "boxes" view only applies to primitive values, while the "tentacles" view applies to all values, so the former is unnecessary and need not even be considered/taught.

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