Cannot read file as binary in python 2.7

Question

file = open("images.jpeg", "rb")

c = file.read(512)
print(type(c))
print(c)

file.close()

c is a str object. Shouldn't it be a bytes object? According to doc, it should be!

In Python 3.2, it is really a bytes object. What happened in Python2.7?

Platform: Kubuntu 12.04 64-bit

I want to analyse image file format, get the file header and raw data. How to operate on str object? — hbprotoss
– hbprotoss, Commented Sep 30, 2012 at 14:01
Use the struct module to "Interpret strings as packed binary data". — martineau
– martineau, Commented Sep 30, 2012 at 16:33

jfs · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-30 13:50:43Z

3

bytes is an alias for str in Python 2.7

answered Sep 30, 2012 at 13:50

jfs

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1 Comment

Maybe the OP should convert the bytes (str) read in into a bytearray.