[Tutor] Why difference between printing string & typing its object reference at the prompt?

[Alan Gauld]

On 11/10/12 02:23, boB Stepp wrote:

>> bytes have string methods as a convenience, such as find, split, and
>> partition. They also have the method decode(), which uses a specified
>> encoding such as "utf-8" to create a string from an encoded bytes
>> sequence.
>
> What is the intended use of byte types?

One purpose is to facilitate the handling of raw data streams such as 
might be read from a binary file or over a network. If you are using 
locale settings with 16 bit characters reading such a stream as a 
character string will result in you processing pairs of bytes at a time. 
Using a byte string you guarantee you process 8 bits at a time with no 
attempt at interpretation.

-- 
Alan G
Author of the Learn to Program web site
http://www.alan-g.me.uk/