What is the expected output of the following code? nums = [3, 7, 23, 42] alphas = ['p', 'p', 'm', '3'] print(nums is alphas) print(nums == alphas) nums = alphas print(nums is alphas) print(nums ==…

Question

Options

• A1|True 2|False 3|True 4|False
• B1|False 2|False 3|True 4|True
• C1|False 2|True 3|True 4|True
• D1|True 2|False 3|True 4|True

• A
  13% (5)
• B
  74% (29)
• C
  8% (3)
• D
  5% (2)

Explanation

Option B is correct because is tests identity (whether two variables point to the same object in memory), while == tests equality (whether two objects have the same values). Initially, nums and alphas are two separate list objects with different contents, so both is (line 1) and == (line 2) return False. After nums = alphas, both variables reference the same list object, making is return True (line 3) and == also True since an object always equals itself (line 4).

Why the distractors fail:

• A is wrong because it shows True for line 1 - two separately created lists can never be the same object before reassignment.
• C is wrong because it shows True for line 2 - [3, 7, 23, 42] and ['p', 'p', 'm', '3'] contain completely different values.
• D is wrong for the same reason as A: line 1 cannot be True before the reassignment nums = alphas occurs.

Memory tip: Think of is as asking "same address?" and == as asking "same contents?" - assignment (=) makes two names share one address, but two list literals always start at different addresses even if their contents match.

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