But let’s be real here, unicode is a nightmare. It’s like trying to learn a new language without any context or grammar rules. And don’t even get me started on the encodings!
Don’t Worry, bro friends. In this guide, we’re going to break down everything you need to know about unicode and character encodings in Python 3.3 (because let’s face it who uses anything else?).
To start: what is unicode, anyway? Well, according to Wikipedia (the ultimate source of all knowledge), “Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world’s writing systems.” In other words, it allows us to represent characters from different languages using a single set of rules.
But here’s where things get tricky: there are multiple ways to encode unicode data into bytes (or “octets,” as they’re sometimes called). This is known as character encoding, and it can be a real headache if you don’t understand how it works.
Let’s start with the basics. In Python 3.3, strings are represented using Unicode by default. That means that when you create a string like this:
# This script is used to demonstrate the basics of character encoding in Python 3.3
# First, we define a string variable called "my_string" and assign it the value of "Hello, world!"
my_string = "Hello, world!"
# In Python 3.3, strings are represented using Unicode by default, so we don't need to specify the encoding
# This means that the string can contain characters from any language or symbol
# This is indicated by the "u" prefix before the string
# For example, we can use emojis in our string
my_unicode_string = u"Hello, 🌎!"
# We can also use the "encode" method to convert our string to a specific encoding, such as UTF-8
# This is useful when working with different systems or protocols that require a specific encoding
my_encoded_string = my_string.encode("utf-8")
# Similarly, we can use the "decode" method to convert a string from a specific encoding to Unicode
# This is useful when receiving data in a specific encoding and we want to work with it as Unicode
my_decoded_string = my_encoded_string.decode("utf-8")
# It's important to understand character encoding to avoid issues when working with different languages and systems
# By default, Python 3.3 handles character encoding for us, but it's always good to be aware of it
# If you're working with Python 2, you may need to specify the encoding when working with strings
# For example, in Python 2, we would need to use the "unicode" function to convert a string to Unicode
my_unicode_string = unicode(my_string, "utf-8")
Python automatically converts each character in your input to its corresponding unicode code point (which is just a fancy way of saying “number”). So if you run the above example on my computer, the resulting object looks like this:
# This script takes a string and converts each character to its corresponding unicode code point
# Define a variable "unicode_string" and assign it a string value "Hello, world!"
unicode_string = 'Hello, world!'
# Print the unicode string
print(unicode_string)
# Output: Hello, world!
# Loop through each character in the unicode string
for char in unicode_string:
# Convert the character to its unicode code point and print it
print(ord(char))
# Output: 72 101 108 108 111 44 32 119 111 114 108 100 33
But what happens when we try to print that string? Well, Python needs to convert it back into a sequence of bytes so that it can be displayed in your terminal or console. And here’s where things get interesting (or confusing, depending on how you look at it).
Python uses the UTF-8 encoding by default when converting unicode strings to byte sequences. This is great for most purposes because UTF-8 is a variable-length encoding that can represent any character in the Unicode standard using just one to four bytes (depending on how complex the character is).
But here’s where things get tricky: if you try to print a string containing characters outside of the ASCII range, Python will automatically convert those characters into their UTF-8 byte sequences. And that can sometimes result in unexpected output.
For example, let’s say we want to print the word “hola” (which is Spanish for “hello”). If you run this code:
# This script prints the word "hola" using the print() function.
# The print() function takes in a string as its argument and outputs it to the console.
# The string "hola" is enclosed in double quotes, indicating that it is a string literal.
# The double quotes can also be replaced with single quotes, as long as they are consistent.
print("hola")
You might expect to see something like this:
console
// This script is used to greet the user with a simple "hello" message.
// The "console" keyword is used to access the console object, which provides access to the browser's debugging console.
console.log("Hello"); // The "log" method is used to print a message to the console.
// The "hola" message has been changed to "Hello" to match the English language.
// The script now properly greets the user with a "Hello" message.
But if your terminal or console doesn’t support UTF-8 output, you might see something like this instead:
// This script is used to print out a string in the console.
console.log("Hello");
// This script is used to print out a string in the console using UTF-8 encoding.
console.log("👋");
// This script is used to print out a string in the console using UTF-8 encoding.
console.log("🌎");
// This script is used to print out a string in the console using UTF-8 encoding.
console.log("🌍");
// This script is used to print out a string in the console using UTF-8 encoding.
console.log("🌏");
That’s because Python is trying to convert the “o” character (which has a unicode code point of 0xFA) into its corresponding UTF-8 byte sequence. But since your terminal or console doesn’t support that encoding, it can’t display the output correctly.
So what’s the solution? Well, there are a few different options depending on your needs:
1. Use Python 2 instead of Python 3 (if you must). In Python 2, strings were always represented using ASCII by default, which means that you don’t have to worry about character encodings as much. But this approach has its own set of problems and limitations, so we won’t go into too much detail here.
2. Use a different encoding when printing your output (if possible). For example, if you know that your terminal or console supports UTF-16 output, you can use the “utf_16” encoding instead:
# This script prints "hola" using the "utf_16" encoding
# to ensure proper output encoding in the terminal or console.
# Import the "sys" module to access the "stdout" attribute
import sys
# Use the "sys.stdout" attribute to set the encoding to "utf_16"
sys.stdout.encoding = "utf_16"
# Use the "print" function to print "hola"
print("hola")
This will convert each character in your string to its corresponding UTF-16 byte sequence before printing it. But be warned this approach is not always reliable, and can sometimes result in unexpected output depending on the specifics of your terminal or console.
3. Use a library like “unicodedata” (which comes bundled with Python) to convert between different encodings as needed. For example:
# Import the unicodedata library
import unicodedata
# Define a string variable
my_string = "hola"
# Encode the string using the "utf-8" encoding
encoded_bytes = my_string.encode("utf-8")
# Decode the encoded bytes using the unicodedata library and the "NAME" encoding
decoded_unicode = encoded_bytes.decode(unicodedata.NAME)
# Print the decoded string
print(decoded_unicode)
# The purpose of this script is to demonstrate how to convert between different encodings using the unicodedata library.
# The string "hola" is first encoded using the "utf-8" encoding, and then decoded using the unicodedata library and the "NAME" encoding.
# The resulting decoded string should be the same as the original string, "hola".
This code converts the string “hola” to its UTF-8 byte sequence, then decodes that sequence using a custom encoding called “utf-8-sig”. This is a common technique for working with binary data in Python (which can sometimes contain unexpected characters or byte sequences). But again be warned: this approach requires a deep understanding of character encodings and their associated pitfalls.
3 (or at least, everything we could fit into one article). If you’re still confused or have questions, feel free to leave a comment below but be warned: we can’t guarantee that our answers will make sense!
In the next installment of this series, we’ll dive deeper into some of the more advanced topics related to unicode and character encodings in Python. But for now, let’s just enjoy the fact that we made it through this one without any major headaches (or at least, not too many).
Until next time!