What is the Python <> operator

Question

What exactly is the <> operator in Python, and why is it undocumented (as far as I can tell)?

Is it the same as != or is not

Answer 1

In Python 2.x, <> is the same as != (i.e. "not equal to", rather than is not which is "not identical to"), but the latter is preferred:

The comparison operators <> and != are alternate spellings of the same operator. != is the preferred spelling; <> is obsolescent.

In 3.x, <> has been removed and only != exists.