A few more comments. http://bugs.python.org/review/19548/diff/13502/Doc/library/codecs.rst File Doc/library/codecs.rst (right): http://bugs.python.org/review/19548/diff/13502/Doc/library/codecs.rst#newcod... Doc/library/codecs.rst:420: Codec Objects Still the relation between the `codec` term and the Codec class/objects is not clear IMHO. http://bugs.python.org/review/19548/diff/13502/Doc/library/codecs.rst#newcod... Doc/library/codecs.rst:829: :term:`text encoding` and recreating the A see some term confusion here: the `text encoding` term is defined (in the glossary) just as a *kind of* *codec*, buy *here* the words `encoding` and `decoding` refer to activities (each being a reversal of the other) performed *by* a *codec*. http://bugs.python.org/review/19548/