copy_deep.py

#!/usr/bin/env python


import copy


class MyClass:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = name

    def __cmp__(self, other):
        return cmp(self.name, other.name)

a = MyClass('a')
my_list = [a]
dup = copy.deepcopy(my_list)

print '              my_list:', my_list
print '                  dup:', dup
print '       dup is my_list:', (dup is my_list)
print '       dup == my_list:', (dup == my_list)
print ' dup[0] is my_list[0]:', (dup[0] is my_list[0])
print ' dup[0] == my_list[0]:', (dup[0] == my_list[0])