How to check if variable is string with python 2 and 3 compatibility

If you're writing 2.x-and-3.x-compatible code, you'll probably want to use six:

from six import string_typesisinstance(s, string_types)

python string python-3.x python-2.x

The most terse approach I've found without relying on packages like six, is:

try:  basestringexcept NameError:  basestring = str

then, assuming you've been checking for strings in Python 2 in the most generic manner,

isinstance(s, basestring)

will now also work for Python 3+.

python string python-3.x python-2.x

What about this, works in all cases?

isinstance(x, ("".__class__, u"".__class__))

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