Dive Into Python 3 does a very good job of explaining what a character and what a byte is, their difference, and why it is important (particularly for Python 3)

Dive Into Python 3 does a very good job of explaining what a character and what a byte is, their difference, and why it is important (particularly for Python 3). http://diveintopython3.org/strings.html http://diveintopython3.org/strings.html Spolsky's article on character encoding is equally as good. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Unicode.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Unicode.html I recommend both to every programmer.