Python unable to compare bound method to itself

Question

I am attempting to write a test that checks if a variable holding the bound method of a class is the same as another reference to that method. Normally this is not a problem

Answer 1

They're not the same reference - the objects representing the two methods occupy different locations in memory:

>>> class TestClass:
...     def sample_method(self):
...         pass
...     def test_method(self, method_reference):
...         print(hex(id(method_reference)))
...         print(hex(id(self.sample_method)))
... 
>>> instance = TestClass()
>>> instance.test_method(instance.sample_method)
0x7fed0cc561c8
0x7fed0cc4e688

Changing to method_reference == self.sample_method will make the assert pass, though.

Edit since question was expanded: seems like a flawed test - probably the actual functionality of the code does not require the references to be the same (is), just equal (==). So your change probably didn't break anything except for the test.