What is the difference between == and is in Python?

**==** checks value equality — are the values the same?
**is** checks identity — are they the exact same object in memory?

```python
a = [1, 2, 3]
b = [1, 2, 3]
print(a == b) # True (same values)
print(a is b) # False (different objects)

x = 5
y = 5
print(x is y) # True (small integers are cached)
```