(thing)
Python character arrays are a mess.

    If Python2, check if **thing** is an :obj:`unicode` or a :obj:`str`.
    If Python3, check if **thing** is a :obj:`str`.

    :param thing: The thing to check.
    :returns: ``True`` if **thing** is a string according to whichever version
              of Python we're running in.
Python character arrays are a mess.
Python character arrays are a mess .
def _is_string(thing):
    """Python character arrays are a mess.

    If Python2, check if **thing** is an :obj:`unicode` or a :obj:`str`.
    If Python3, check if **thing** is a :obj:`str`.

    :param thing: The thing to check.
    :returns: ``True`` if **thing** is a string according to whichever version
              of Python we're running in.
    """
    if _util._py3k: return isinstance(thing, str)
    else: return isinstance(thing, basestring)
def _is_string ( thing ) : if _util . _py3k : return isinstance ( thing , str ) else : return isinstance ( thing , basestring )