You need to keep the objects alive obviously, then it works exactly as expected. >>> a = [1,2,3] >>> b = [4,5,6] >>> id(a), id(b) (140659402612872, 140

You need to keep the objects alive obviously, then it works exactly as expected. >>> a = [1,2,3] >>> b = [4,5,6] >>> id(a), id(b) (140659402612872, 140659403098568)