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

Question

I\'m aware that I can use: isinstance(x, str) in python-3.x but I need to check if something is a string in python-2.x as well. Will isinstance(x, str)

Answer 1

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

try:
  basestring
except 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+.