def _equal(a, b, identityLong, relicCompare):
<EOL>if isinstance(b, (long, int)) and b == identityLong:<EOL><INDENT>return a.isIdentity()<EOL><DEDENT>assertSameType(a, b)<EOL>a.normalize()<EOL>b.normalize()<EOL>return relicCompare(byref(a), byref(b)) == EQUAL<EOL>
Compares element @a to @b. If @b is @identityLong, returns 
a.isIdentity(). Otherwise, normalize a and b and use the relicCompare
function to test for equality.