Mutability, simply put: the contents of a mutable object can be changed, while the contents of an immutable object cannot be.
All of the simple data types we covered first are immutable
| type | use | mutable? |
|---|---|---|
int, float, decimal |
store numbers | no |
str |
store strings | no |
bool |
store True or False |
no |
For the mutability of the container types we covered in this chapter, check this helpful list:
| container type | use | mutable? |
|---|---|---|
list |
ordered group of items, accessible by position | yes |
set |
mutable unordered group consisting only of immutable items. useful for set operations (membership, intersection, difference, etc) | yes |
tuple |
contain ordered groups of items in an immutable collection | no |
dict |
contains key value pairs | yes |