[Tutor] unexpected list entry

[Dave Angel]

On 12/02/2011 08:49 AM, surya k wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Just take a look at this small code.. I am just taking a string as input and assigning it as a list.
> But I am finding an unexpected entry in the list.. Why this is happening?
>
> I am using PyScripter IDE.
>
>
> code :
>
>
> #!/usr/bin/env python
>
> def main():
>      pass
>
> if __name__ == '__main__':
>      main()
>
> print "Flames: "
> name1 = raw_input('enter name 1')
>
> ListName1 = list(name1)
> print name1
> print ListName1
>
>
> Output:
>
> Flames:
> foo
> [u'f', u'o', u'o']
>
>
> Observe the last line.. it isn't showing [ 'f', 'o', 'o']
> Why is that "u" coming in the middle from no where ??
>
The u""  notation just says it's a unicode string.  No more confusing 
than the [] meaning it's a list.  Neither is the content of the object, 
just showing you textually what the type is.  You should also print  
repr(name1) to see if it is likewise a unicode string.  I presume it's 
already unicode when returned by raw_input().

My puzzle is how you got unicode strings, if you've shown your entire 
program.   In Python3, all strings are unicode, so it wouldn't bother to 
say so.  Besides, your code has a syntax error in it, if it's supposed 
to be Python 3.x

You probably need to identify your particular version of Python, and the 
platform (OS) you're running it on.

But it could be affected by your IDE (Pyscripter), or by a site.py or 
other implicitly loaded module.
You can check for the former by running the script from a command shell.

-- 

DaveA