Identity Operators

Identity operators check whether two variables point to the same object in memory.

Operator	Meaning	Example
is	same object	x is y
is not	different objects	x is not y

Example

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

print(x1 is y1)   # True (small ints may be cached)
print(x2 is y2)   # True (strings may be interned)
print(x3 is y3)   # False (different list objects)
print(x3 == y3)   # True (same contents)

Note

Use == to compare values. Use is to check identity (e.g., x is None).

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