Why list comparision in python does value comparision instead of reference comparision?

Question

I have created 2 lists, one which list comprehension and other using iteration. The second list started as an empty list, so it must have a different location in memory. So, == should return False , but it returns True . Notice that the memory location is different(2nd print call):

my_list = [x*2 for x in range(1, 10, 1)]
new_list = []
for item in range(1, 10, 1):
    new_list.append(item * 2)

print(my_list == new_list) # True 
print(hex(id(my_list)) == hex(id(new_list))) #False

Please explain why this is?

Answer 1

Simply because those are the semantics of Python's list comparisons with the == operator.

If you do want reference comparison, use the is operator – in general, you never do want reference comparison though.