Python Equal

Python equal comparison is done with ==, the equal operator. The result of the operation is a Boolean.

>>> 3 == 3
True
>>> 3 == 8
False
>>> 'test' == 'test'
True

The most common use of the equal operator is to decide the flow of the application:

a, b = 3, 5
if a == b:
   print('a and b are equal')
else:
   print('a and b are not equal')

Comparing Objects with ==

Python equal operator compares the value of objects, that’s in contrast to the Python is operator that compares if they are actually the same object. For example:

>>> a = [2, 3]
>>> b = [2, 3]
>>> a == b
True
>>> a is b
False

Comparing Lists in Python

You can use the equal operator to compare lists:

>>> [2, 3] == [2, 3]
True
>>> [3, 2] == [2, 3]
False

Comparing Tuples in Python

You can use the equal operator to compare tuples:

>>> (2, 3) == (2, 3)
True
>>> (3, 2) == (2, 3)
False

Comparing Sets in Python

You can use the equal operator to compare sets:

>>> set([2, 3]) == set([2, 3])
True
>>> set([3, 2]) == set([2, 3])
True
>>> set([8, 2]) == set([2, 3])
False

As you can see the order of the initial list doesn’t make a difference in the comparison, because the Set’s order doesn’t matter.

Comparing Dictionaries in Python

You can use the equal operator to compare dictionaries:

>>> {2: 3, 5: 'b'} == {2: 3, 5: 'b'}
True
>>> {5: 'b', 2: 3} == {2: 3, 5: 'b'}
True
>>> {3: 3, 5: 'b'} == {2: 3, 5: 'b'}
False

As you can see the order doesn’t make a difference in the comparison, because the Dictionary’s order doesn’t matter.