Types

Enums

Enum defines symbolic names for a fixed set of values.

An enum member has a symbolic name and an underlying value. The symbolic name is what readers usually care about in code.

Source

from enum import Enum

class Status(Enum):
    PENDING = "pending"
    DONE = "done"

current = Status.PENDING
print(current.name)
print(current.value)

Output

PENDING
pending

Compare enum members with enum members, not with raw strings. This keeps the set of valid states explicit.

Source

print(current is Status.PENDING)
print(current == "pending")

Output

True
False

Notes

Enums make states and choices explicit.
Members have names and values.
Comparing enum members avoids string typo bugs.
Prefer raw strings for open-ended text; prefer enums for a closed set of named choices.

Run the complete example

Expected output

PENDING
pending
True
False

Execution time appears here after you run the example.

Enums

See also

Run the complete example

Example code

Expected output