How to convert Unicode to Str in Python

Python

TypeError: expected unicode, got str

Strings are not the same as unicode in Python 2.

type("text")
>> <type 'str'>
type(u"text")
>> <type 'unicode'>

So, the conversions:

• From unicode to str, use encode:
  u"text".encode('utf-8') == "text"
• From str to unicode, use decode:
  "text".decode("utf-8") == u"text"