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To: python-list@python.org
From: Serhiy Storchaka <storchaka@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: portable unicode literals
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:11:45 +0300
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On 15.10.12 16:05, Ulrich Eckhardt wrote:
> I need a little nudge in the right direction, as I'm misunderstanding
> something concerning string literals in Python 2 and 3. In Python 2.7,
> b'' and '' are byte strings, while u'' is a unicode literal. In Python
> 3.2, b'' is a byte string and '' is a unicode literal, while u'' is a
> syntax error.
>
> This actually came as a surprise to me, I assumed that using b'' I could
> portably create a byte string (which is true) and using u'' I could
> portably create a unicode string (which is not true). This feature would
> help porting code between both versions. While this is a state I can
> live with, I wonder what the rationale for this is.

   from __future__ import unicode_literals

And now you can portable use b'' for a byte string and '' for a unicode 
string. When you will drop Python 2 support then just remove import from 
__future__.