[py3] Documented forwards-compatible aliases

to stay compatible with Python 2. But authors of pluggable applications are

encouraged to use the same porting strategy as Django itself.

Writing compatible code is much easier if you target Python ≥ 2.6. You will

most likely take advantage of the compatibility functions introduced in Django

1.5, like :mod:`django.utils.six`, so your application will also require

Django ≥ 1.5.

Writing compatible code is much easier if you target Python ≥ 2.6. Django 1.5

introduces compatibility tools such as :mod:`django.utils.six`. For

convenience, forwards-compatible aliases were introduced in Django 1.4.2. If

your application takes advantage of these tools, it will require Django ≥

1.4.2.

Obviously, writing compatible source code adds some overhead, and that can

cause frustration. Django's developers have found that attempting to write

For backwards compatibility, the old names still work on Python 2. Under

Python 3, ``smart_str`` is an alias for ``smart_text``.

For forwards compatibility, the new names work as of Django 1.4.2.

.. note::

    :mod:`django.utils.encoding` was deeply refactored in Django 1.5 to

Python 3, ``EscapeString`` and ``SafeString`` are aliases for ``EscapeText``

and ``SafeText`` respectively.

For forwards compatibility, the new names work as of Django 1.4.2.

:meth:`__str__` and :meth:`__unicode__` methods

-----------------------------------------------

This technique is the best match for Django's porting philosophy.

For forwards compatibility, this decorator is available as of Django 1.4.2.

Finally, note that :meth:`__repr__` must return a :class:`str` on all versions

of Python.

six_ is the canonical compatibility library for supporting Python 2 and 3 in

a single codebase. Read its documentation!

:mod:`six` is bundled with Django: you can import it as :mod:`django.utils.six`.

:mod`six` is bundled with Django as of version 1.4.2. You can import it as

:mod`django.utils.six`.

Here are the most common changes required to write compatible code.