aws-ec2: ec2.AmazonLinux2Kernel is not an enum in Python

[pwrmiller]

Describe the bug

In Python, AmazonLinux2Kernel is not an enumeration (not an enum.Enum) in CDK -

ec2.AmazonLinux2Kernel.KERNEL_5_10 == ec2.AmazonLinux2Kernel.KERNEL_5_10
False

vs

ec2.AmazonLinuxGeneration.AMAZON_LINUX_2023 == ec2.AmazonLinuxGeneration.AMAZON_LINUX_2023
True

We can see that the class of this is not an enumeration, like other enumerations in the aws-ec2 code:

class AmazonLinux2Kernel(
    metaclass=jsii.JSIIMeta,
    jsii_type="aws-cdk-lib.aws_ec2.AmazonLinux2Kernel",
):
    '''Amazon Linux 2 kernel versions.

    :exampleMetadata: infused
# ...
# vs 

@jsii.enum(jsii_type="aws-cdk-lib.aws_ec2.AmazonLinuxGeneration")
class AmazonLinuxGeneration(enum.Enum):
    '''What generation of Amazon Linux to use.
# ...

This inconsistency means it is difficult to compare certain objects in python.

Expected Behavior

I expected an enumeration to be an enumeration - the comparison above should have passed.

Current Behavior

The enumeration was not an enumeration, and the comparison above failed.

Reproduction Steps

The code above should suffice.

Possible Solution

Make these enumerations, enumerations.

Additional Information/Context

No response

CDK CLI Version

2.84.0

Framework Version

No response

Node.js Version

18.16.0

OS

MacOS

Language

Python

Language Version

3.9.6

Other information

No response

[pahud]

I think it's because of their different internal implementation.

AmazonLinuxGeneration is enum while AmazonLinux2Kernel is actually a class(object in python) and you can't compare object with '==' in python.

[pwrmiller]

Agreed. Some degree of standardization probably needs to happen here. We should ask: does it make sense to compare two AmazonLinuxGeneration values? Does it also make sense to compare two AmazonLinux2Kernel values?

I think most Python developers would expect things that look like enumerations to be enumerations. As a workaround, for now, I'm using the toString method provided on the AmazonLinux2Kernel class, but it's not ergonomic or pythonic.

[pwrmiller]

And another thought: if these shouldn't be an enumeration (or if that's breaking), would it make sense to implement the __eq__ method for comparisons for classes like this? What's the JSII mechanism to provide an equality/ comparison?