Perhaps this will clear things up: Python 3.3.0a4 (v3.3.0a4:7c51388a3aa7, May 31 2012, 20:17:41) [MSC v.1600 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32 Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. >>> ua = u'a' >>> literal_ua = "u'a'" >>> ua == literal_ua False >>> input_ua = input() u'a' >>> input_ua "u'a'" >>> input_ua == ua False >>> input_ua == literal_ua True >>> eval_ua = eval(literal_ua) >>> eval_ua 'a' >>> eval(literal_ua) == input_ua False >>> eval(literal_ua) == ua True >>> u'a' == 'a' True >>> u'a' is 'a' True
-- CPython 3.3.0a4 | Windows NT 6.1.7601.17803 -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
