python 3 - reading a file within zipped archive places 'b' character at start of each line -

in code below, strange output places b before every line. letter b.

e.g. sample output this:

[b'2017-06-01,15:19:57,'] 

the script this:

from zipfile import zipfile  zipfile('myarchive.zip','r') myzip:     myzip.open('logs/logfile1.txt') myfile:         next(myfile)         print(myfile.readlines()) 

the archive has single folder in called "logs" , inside logs there several text files, each lines below empty first line (hence next(myfile)

it places b before data, no matter file try read. if there multiple lines in file outputs this:

[b'2017-06-01,15:06:28,start session: \n', b'2017-06-01,15:06:36,stop session'] 

why placing pesky b there?

in python 3.x there distinction between strings , bytes data. when representing bytes strings python adds b prefix denote that. if want treat bytes strings, first need decode them string:

your_string = your_bytes.decode("utf-8")  

of course, codec you'll use depends on how string encoded bytes in first place.