[Python-Dev] Need a way to test for 8-bit-or-unicode-string

[Guido van Rossum]

Now that the introduction of a class hierarchy is dead, I'd like to
move forward with the isinstance(x, (A, B, C...)) patch.

Followup question: should I also implement issubclass(X, (A, B, C...))?

It's consistent to do so, but it's more work (issubclass is a bit
murkier due to the "abstract subclass" support), and I'm not sure that
it has the same benefits...

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)