copy_hooks.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)

    def __copy__(self):
        print '__copy__()'
        return MyClass(self.name)

    def __deepcopy__(self, memo):
        print '__deepcopy__(%s)' % str(memo)
        return MyClass(copy.deepcopy(self.name, memo))

a = MyClass('a')

sc = copy.copy(a)
dc = copy.deepcopy(a)