Does assigning another variable to a string make a copy or increase the reference count
<p>On p.35 of "Python Essential Reference" by David Beazley, he first states:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>For immutable data such as strings, the interpreter aggressively
  shares objects between different parts of the program.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>However, later on the same page, he states </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>For immutable objects such as numbers and strings, this assignment
  effectively creates a copy.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>But isn't this a contradiction? On one hand he is saying that they are shared, but then he says they are copied.</p>
