How to Efficiently Convert Strings to Bytes in Python 3?

How to Convert String to Bytes in Python 3 with Optimal Pythonic Style

When encountering the error "TypeError: 'str' does not support the buffer interface," you have two options to convert a string to bytes:

1. b = bytes(mystring, 'utf-8')
2. b = mystring.encode('utf-8')

Choosing the More Pythonic Method

The Python documentation for the bytes type suggests using bytearray as the preferred method to initialize an array of bytes from a string:

bytearray([source[, encoding[, errors]]])

With this in mind, since bytes can perform various tasks beyond encoding strings, it makes sense for the constructor to accept different types of source parameters.

For string encoding specifically, using some_string.encode(encoding) is more Pythonic than bytes(some_string, encoding):

• The former is more self-explanatory regarding the intended purpose: encode a string with a specific encoding.
• The latter lacks an explicit verb and is less clear about its function.

Furthermore, unicode_string.encode(encoding) is also more Pythonic because its inverse is byte_string.decode(encoding), maintaining symmetry.

Optimizing Performance with CPython

If using CPython, passing a unicode string to bytes directly calls PyUnicode_AsEncodedString, which is the underlying implementation of encode. Therefore, calling encode yourself eliminates an unnecessary level of indirection and potentially improves performance.

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