'Straße' ('Strasse') and Python 2

[MRAB]

On 2014-01-12 08:31, Peter Otten wrote:
> wxjmfauth at gmail.com wrote:
>
>>>>> sys.version
>> 2.7.6 (default, Nov 10 2013, 19:24:18) [MSC v.1500 32 bit (Intel)]
>>>>> s = 'Straße'
>>>>> assert len(s) == 6
>>>>> assert s[5] == 'e'
>>>>>
>>
>> jmf
>
> Signifying nothing. (Macbeth)
>
> Python 2.7.2+ (default, Jul 20 2012, 22:15:08)
> [GCC 4.6.1] on linux2
> Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>> s = "Straße"
>>>> assert len(s) == 6
> Traceback (most recent call last):
>    File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
> AssertionError
>>>> assert s[5] == "e"
> Traceback (most recent call last):
>    File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
> AssertionError
>
>
The point is that in Python 2 'Straße' is a bytestring and its length
depends on the encoding of the source file. If the source file is UTF-8
then 'Straße' is a string literal with 7 bytes between the single
quotes.