gistfile1.py

def struct_hash(structure):
    if isinstance(structure, list):
        r = "list:" + repr([struct_hash(item) for item in structure])
    elif isinstance(structure, dict):
        r = "dict:" + repr([(struct_hash(key), struct_hash(value)) for (key, value) in sorted(structure.items())])
    elif isinstance(structure, str):
        r = "unicode:" + repr(unicode(structure))
    elif isinstance(structure, unicode):
        r = "unicode:" + repr(structure)
    elif isinstance(structure, int):
        r = "int:" + repr(structure)
    else:
        print type(structure)
        raise Exception
    return sha_constructor(r).hexdigest()