import sys def s__(obj): """ Converts an object to str format. :rtype: str """ if isinstance(obj, str): return obj v = sys.version_info[0] if v == 2: if isinstance(obj, unicode): return obj.encode('utf-8') elif v == 3: if isinstance(obj, bytes): return obj.decode('utf-8') return str(obj) def b__(obj): """ Converts an object to bytes format. :rtype: bytes """ v = sys.version_info[0] if v == 2: return s__(obj) if isinstance(obj, bytes): return obj if not isinstance(obj, str): obj = str(obj) return obj.encode('utf-8')