Davidg建议使用词典。我想更进一步，使用集合:

months = set('January', 'February', ..., 'December')

现在你可以测试一个值是否与集合中的一个值匹配，如下所示:

if m in months:

但是，像dF，我通常只使用字符串常量来代替枚举。

这是我见过的最好的一个:“Python中的First Class Enums”

http://code.activestate.com/recipes/413486/

It gives you a class, and the class contains all the enums. The enums can be compared to each other, but don't have any particular value; you can't use them as an integer value. (I resisted this at first because I am used to C enums, which are integer values. But if you can't use it as an integer, you can't use it as an integer by mistake so overall I think it is a win.) Each enum is a unique value. You can print enums, you can iterate over them, you can test that an enum value is "in" the enum. It's pretty complete and slick.

编辑(cfi):上面的链接不兼容Python 3。下面是我将枚举.py移植到Python 3的端口:

def cmp(a,b):
   if a < b: return -1
   if b < a: return 1
   return 0


def Enum(*names):
   ##assert names, "Empty enums are not supported" # <- Don't like empty enums? Uncomment!

   class EnumClass(object):
      __slots__ = names
      def __iter__(self):        return iter(constants)
      def __len__(self):         return len(constants)
      def __getitem__(self, i):  return constants[i]
      def __repr__(self):        return 'Enum' + str(names)
      def __str__(self):         return 'enum ' + str(constants)

   class EnumValue(object):
      __slots__ = ('__value')
      def __init__(self, value): self.__value = value
      Value = property(lambda self: self.__value)
      EnumType = property(lambda self: EnumType)
      def __hash__(self):        return hash(self.__value)
      def __cmp__(self, other):
         # C fans might want to remove the following assertion
         # to make all enums comparable by ordinal value {;))
         assert self.EnumType is other.EnumType, "Only values from the same enum are comparable"
         return cmp(self.__value, other.__value)
      def __lt__(self, other):   return self.__cmp__(other) < 0
      def __eq__(self, other):   return self.__cmp__(other) == 0
      def __invert__(self):      return constants[maximum - self.__value]
      def __nonzero__(self):     return bool(self.__value)
      def __repr__(self):        return str(names[self.__value])

   maximum = len(names) - 1
   constants = [None] * len(names)
   for i, each in enumerate(names):
      val = EnumValue(i)
      setattr(EnumClass, each, val)
      constants[i] = val
   constants = tuple(constants)
   EnumType = EnumClass()
   return EnumType


if __name__ == '__main__':
   print( '\n*** Enum Demo ***')
   print( '--- Days of week ---')
   Days = Enum('Mo', 'Tu', 'We', 'Th', 'Fr', 'Sa', 'Su')
   print( Days)
   print( Days.Mo)
   print( Days.Fr)
   print( Days.Mo < Days.Fr)
   print( list(Days))
   for each in Days:
      print( 'Day:', each)
   print( '--- Yes/No ---')
   Confirmation = Enum('No', 'Yes')
   answer = Confirmation.No
   print( 'Your answer is not', ~answer)

以下是我认为有价值的方法:

允许>和<基于枚举中的顺序进行比较，而不是词法顺序 可以地址项目的名称，属性或索引:x.a, x['a']或x[0] 支持[:]或[-1]等切片操作

最重要的是防止不同类型的枚举之间的比较!

基于http://code.activestate.com/recipes/413486-first-class-enums-in-python。

这里包含了许多文档测试，以说明这种方法的不同之处。

def enum(*names):
    """
SYNOPSIS
    Well-behaved enumerated type, easier than creating custom classes

DESCRIPTION
    Create a custom type that implements an enumeration.  Similar in concept
    to a C enum but with some additional capabilities and protections.  See
    http://code.activestate.com/recipes/413486-first-class-enums-in-python/.

PARAMETERS
    names       Ordered list of names.  The order in which names are given
                will be the sort order in the enum type.  Duplicate names
                are not allowed.  Unicode names are mapped to ASCII.

RETURNS
    Object of type enum, with the input names and the enumerated values.

EXAMPLES
    >>> letters = enum('a','e','i','o','u','b','c','y','z')
    >>> letters.a < letters.e
    True

    ## index by property
    >>> letters.a
    a

    ## index by position
    >>> letters[0]
    a

    ## index by name, helpful for bridging string inputs to enum
    >>> letters['a']
    a

    ## sorting by order in the enum() create, not character value
    >>> letters.u < letters.b
    True

    ## normal slicing operations available
    >>> letters[-1]
    z

    ## error since there are not 100 items in enum
    >>> letters[99]
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    IndexError: tuple index out of range

    ## error since name does not exist in enum
    >>> letters['ggg']
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    ValueError: tuple.index(x): x not in tuple

    ## enums must be named using valid Python identifiers
    >>> numbers = enum(1,2,3,4)
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    AssertionError: Enum values must be string or unicode

    >>> a = enum('-a','-b')
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    TypeError: Error when calling the metaclass bases
        __slots__ must be identifiers

    ## create another enum
    >>> tags = enum('a','b','c')
    >>> tags.a
    a
    >>> letters.a
    a

    ## can't compare values from different enums
    >>> letters.a == tags.a
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    AssertionError: Only values from the same enum are comparable

    >>> letters.a < tags.a
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    AssertionError: Only values from the same enum are comparable

    ## can't update enum after create
    >>> letters.a = 'x'
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    AttributeError: 'EnumClass' object attribute 'a' is read-only

    ## can't update enum after create
    >>> del letters.u
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    AttributeError: 'EnumClass' object attribute 'u' is read-only

    ## can't have non-unique enum values
    >>> x = enum('a','b','c','a')
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    AssertionError: Enums must not repeat values

    ## can't have zero enum values
    >>> x = enum()
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    AssertionError: Empty enums are not supported

    ## can't have enum values that look like special function names
    ## since these could collide and lead to non-obvious errors
    >>> x = enum('a','b','c','__cmp__')
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    AssertionError: Enum values beginning with __ are not supported

LIMITATIONS
    Enum values of unicode type are not preserved, mapped to ASCII instead.

    """
    ## must have at least one enum value
    assert names, 'Empty enums are not supported'
    ## enum values must be strings
    assert len([i for i in names if not isinstance(i, types.StringTypes) and not \
        isinstance(i, unicode)]) == 0, 'Enum values must be string or unicode'
    ## enum values must not collide with special function names
    assert len([i for i in names if i.startswith("__")]) == 0,\
        'Enum values beginning with __ are not supported'
    ## each enum value must be unique from all others
    assert names == uniquify(names), 'Enums must not repeat values'

    class EnumClass(object):
        """ See parent function for explanation """

        __slots__ = names

        def __iter__(self):
            return iter(constants)

        def __len__(self):
            return len(constants)

        def __getitem__(self, i):
            ## this makes xx['name'] possible
            if isinstance(i, types.StringTypes):
                i = names.index(i)
            ## handles the more normal xx[0]
            return constants[i]

        def __repr__(self):
            return 'enum' + str(names)

        def __str__(self):
            return 'enum ' + str(constants)

        def index(self, i):
            return names.index(i)

    class EnumValue(object):
        """ See parent function for explanation """

        __slots__ = ('__value')

        def __init__(self, value):
            self.__value = value

        value = property(lambda self: self.__value)

        enumtype = property(lambda self: enumtype)

        def __hash__(self):
            return hash(self.__value)

        def __cmp__(self, other):
            assert self.enumtype is other.enumtype, 'Only values from the same enum are comparable'
            return cmp(self.value, other.value)

        def __invert__(self):
            return constants[maximum - self.value]

        def __nonzero__(self):
            ## return bool(self.value)
            ## Original code led to bool(x[0])==False, not correct
            return True

        def __repr__(self):
            return str(names[self.value])

    maximum = len(names) - 1
    constants = [None] * len(names)
    for i, each in enumerate(names):
        val = EnumValue(i)
        setattr(EnumClass, each, val)
        constants[i] = val
    constants = tuple(constants)
    enumtype = EnumClass()
    return enumtype

在Java pre-JDK 5中使用的类型安全枚举模式有一个 优势的数量。就像Alexandru的回答一样，你创建了一个 类和类级别字段是枚举值;然而，枚举 值是类的实例，而不是小整数。这已经 优点是枚举值不会在不经意间比较相等 对于小整数，你可以控制它们的打印方式，任意添加 方法(如果有用的话)，并使用isinstance进行断言:

class Animal:
   def __init__(self, name):
       self.name = name

   def __str__(self):
       return self.name

   def __repr__(self):
       return "<Animal: %s>" % self

Animal.DOG = Animal("dog")
Animal.CAT = Animal("cat")

>>> x = Animal.DOG
>>> x
<Animal: dog>
>>> x == 1
False

python-dev上最近的一个线程指出，在野外有几个枚举库，包括:

flufl.enum lazr.enum ．.． 和富有想象力的enum

为了解码二进制文件格式，我曾经需要一个Enum类。我碰巧想要的特性是简洁的枚举定义，通过整数值或字符串自由创建枚举实例的能力，以及有用的表示。这是我最后得出的结论:

>>> class Enum(int):
...     def __new__(cls, value):
...         if isinstance(value, str):
...             return getattr(cls, value)
...         elif isinstance(value, int):
...             return cls.__index[value]
...     def __str__(self): return self.__name
...     def __repr__(self): return "%s.%s" % (type(self).__name__, self.__name)
...     class __metaclass__(type):
...         def __new__(mcls, name, bases, attrs):
...             attrs['__slots__'] = ['_Enum__name']
...             cls = type.__new__(mcls, name, bases, attrs)
...             cls._Enum__index = _index = {}
...             for base in reversed(bases):
...                 if hasattr(base, '_Enum__index'):
...                     _index.update(base._Enum__index)
...             # create all of the instances of the new class
...             for attr in attrs.keys():
...                 value = attrs[attr]
...                 if isinstance(value, int):
...                     evalue = int.__new__(cls, value)
...                     evalue._Enum__name = attr
...                     _index[value] = evalue
...                     setattr(cls, attr, evalue)
...             return cls
... 

使用它的一个异想天开的例子:

>>> class Citrus(Enum):
...     Lemon = 1
...     Lime = 2
... 
>>> Citrus.Lemon
Citrus.Lemon
>>> 
>>> Citrus(1)
Citrus.Lemon
>>> Citrus(5)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
  File "<stdin>", line 6, in __new__
KeyError: 5
>>> class Fruit(Citrus):
...     Apple = 3
...     Banana = 4
... 
>>> Fruit.Apple
Fruit.Apple
>>> Fruit.Lemon
Citrus.Lemon
>>> Fruit(1)
Citrus.Lemon
>>> Fruit(3)
Fruit.Apple
>>> "%d %s %r" % ((Fruit.Apple,)*3)
'3 Apple Fruit.Apple'
>>> Fruit(1) is Citrus.Lemon
True

主要特点:

str()， int()和repr()都会产生最有用的输出，分别是枚举的名称，它的整数值，以及返回枚举的Python表达式。 构造函数返回的枚举值严格限制为预定义值，没有意外的枚举值。 枚举值是单例的;它们可以与之严格比较

所以，我同意。让我们不要在Python中强制执行类型安全，但我想保护自己不犯愚蠢的错误。我们怎么想呢?

class Animal(object):
    values = ['Horse','Dog','Cat']

    class __metaclass__(type):
        def __getattr__(self, name):
            return self.values.index(name)

它使我在定义枚举时避免了值冲突。

>>> Animal.Cat
2

还有一个方便的优势:非常快速的反向查找:

def name_of(self, i):
    return self.values[i]