code: def normalize_path(path):
      
      if sys.platform != 'win32':
          return path
  
      if path.startswith(WINDOWS_UNC_PREFIX):
          return path
  
      return WINDOWS_UNC_PREFIX + os.path.abspath(path)
docs: Normalizes path on Windows OS. This means prepending
      <backslash><backslash>?<backslash> to the path to get access to
      Win32 device namespace instead of Win32 file namespace.
      See https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365247%28v=vs.85%29.aspx#maxpath
  
      @param path: Path to normalize.
      @type path: str
  
      @return: Normalized path.
      @rtype str