Quite the contrary, it's very beautiful and useful: >>> (1, 2) == (1, 2) True >>> (2, 1) == (1, 2) False If you need identity for perf: >

Quite the contrary, it's very beautiful and useful: >>> (1, 2) == (1, 2) True >>> (2, 1) == (1, 2) False If you need identity for perf: >>> (1, 2) is (1, 2) False If you just need the type check: >>> isinstance((1, 2), type((1, 2))) True It's very explicit, practical, and you can set the scale of practicality vs performances where you want. Plus: no implicit weird type conversion, only one equality comparison operator, and no hidden rules. I think it's sane.