Immutable vs Mutable types

Question

I\'m confused on what an immutable type is. I know the float object is considered to be immutable, with this type of example from my book:

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Answer 1

Difference between Mutable and Immutable objects

Definitions

Mutable object: Object that can be changed after creating it.
Immutable object: Object that cannot be changed after creating it.

In python if you change the value of the immutable object it will create a new object.

Mutable Objects

Here are the objects in Python that are of mutable type:

1. list
2. Dictionary
3. Set
4. bytearray
5. user defined classes

Immutable Objects

Here are the objects in Python that are of immutable type:

1. int
2. float
3. decimal
4. complex
5. bool
6. string
7. tuple
8. range
9. frozenset
10. bytes

Some Unanswered Questions

Questions: Is string an immutable type?
Answer: yes it is, but can you explain this: Proof 1:

a = "Hello"
a +=" World"
print a

Output

"Hello World"

In the above example the string got once created as "Hello" then changed to "Hello World". This implies that the string is of the mutable type. But it is not when we check its identity to see whether it is of a mutable type or not.

a = "Hello"
identity_a = id(a)
a += " World"
new_identity_a = id(a)
if identity_a != new_identity_a:
    print "String is Immutable"

Output

String is Immutable

Proof 2:

a = "Hello World"
a[0] = "M"

Output

TypeError 'str' object does not support item assignment

Questions: Is Tuple an immutable type?
Answer: yes, it is. Proof 1:

tuple_a = (1,)
tuple_a[0] = (2,)
print a

Output

'tuple' object does not support item assignment