[Python-3000] base64 - bytes and strings

[Greg Ewing]

Nick Coghlan wrote:
> Py3k strings are unicode, so returning a string would mean you just have 
> to encode it again using the ascii codec to get the bytes to put on the 
> wire.

I still believe that producing a string is conceptually
the right thing to do. The point of base64 is to encode
binary data as text, not binary data as binary data.

If I ever had a reason to use base64, it would be because
I had a "wire" that would accept text but not binary data,
e.g. a file open in text mode, or some other text that I
wanted to embed it in. Getting bytes in that situation
would force me to make an *extra* conversion.

--
Greg