is is not the same as equal in Python

kevin December 1, 2006 Reply

Hi Peter,

You're mixing up identity with equality...easily done :-)

While it's true that...

"peter" == "peter" and
"peter" is "peter"

you'll note that:

"peter" is "peter1"[:-1] is not true while
"peter" == "peter1"[:-1] is

Hope this sheds some light :-)

The interpreter is obviously using two references to the same string "peter" in the first case, but is creating a new string in the second example.

Kevin