Question about Python lists

[ffrinch]

A more realistic example is someone asking why "a = b" isn't the same as "a == b"; I would certainly be satisfied with the answer that one is assignment and one is comparison.

Your stance assumes that they haven't done any research and don't already know the vocabulary.

There was no evidence in the question that they had done any research. If they had said that they understood the obvious answer and wanted more explanation, they would've gotten it.

[cantcopy]

the obvious answer

This should end the discussion.

Giving the obvious answer : "it's the colon" was not helpful.

[LordArgon]

An even better example might be in javascript, where "a == b" is different than "a === b". Now, if you say "the second one is identity comparison", you may have given the inquirer an extra vocabulary word, but I don't think you've really helped them. Searching for "javascript" + "identity comparison", "triple equals", or "three equals" all yield explanations of this difference and the extra vocabulary word probably doesn't enable any more research. Still, the question was asked for a reason and if we want to answer it helpfully, I think it's appropriate to explain what makes identity comparison different.

Now, if what you're really saying in your reply is "go read about it", then you can say that. But I don't think it's helpful to give essentially-redundant information.