Identity Operators

Python language offers some special types of operators like the identity operator or the membership operator. They are described below with examples.

is and is not are the identity operators in Python. They are used to check if two values (or variables) are located on the same part of the memory. Two variables that are equal does not imply that they are identical.

Operator	Meaning	Example
is	True if the operands are identical (refer to the same object)	x is True
is not	True if the operands are not identical (do not refer to the same object)	x is

Example

x1 = 5
y1 = 5
x2 = 'Hello'
y2 = 'Hello'
x3 = [1,2,3]
y3 = [1,2,3]

# Output: False
print(x1 is not y1)

# Output: True
print(x2 is y2)

# Output: False
print(x3 is y3)

Output

False
True
False

Here, we see that x1 and y1 are integers of the same values, so they are equal as well as identical. Same is the case with x2 and y2 (strings).

But x3 and y3 are lists. They are equal but not identical. It is because the interpreter locates them separately in memory although they are equal.