- == checks whether the values of two variables are equal, meaning the data stored in both variables is the same, even if they are different objects in memory.
- == is typically used for comparing the contents of objects such as numbers, strings, lists, or dictionaries.
- You should use == for most logical comparisons and use is only when identity matters, such as if obj is None: instead of if obj == None:.
is (Identity Operatot)
- is checks whether two variables refer to the same object in memory, meaning they have the same identity or memory address.
- is is used when you want to check object identity, such as comparing a variable to None or checking if two variables reference the exact same instance of an object
For example, two separate lists with the same values will return True with == but False with is because they are two different objects.
Immutable objects like small integers and short strings may behave unexpectedly with is, because Python may cache and reuse them internally.
In Python, is and == are used for comparison, but they do different things:
== (Equality Operator)
- Checks if two values are equal in terms of content.
- It compares the values of the objects.
Example:
a = [1, 2, 3]
b = [1, 2, 3]
print(a == b) # True, because the lists have the same content
is (Identity Operator)
- Checks if two variables point to the same object in memory.
- It compares the identity of the objects.
Example:
a = [1, 2, 3]
b = [1, 2, 3]
print(a is b) # False, because they are two different list objects