backports-strenum

1.3.1 · active · verified Thu Apr 09

The `backports.strenum` library provides a backport of the `enum.StrEnum` class, which was introduced in Python 3.11. It allows developers using Python versions 3.8.6 through 3.10 to define enumerated constants that are also subclasses of `str`, behaving like both an Enum member and a string. The current version is 1.3.1, and its release cadence is tied to the need for compatibility with newer Python features.

Warnings

gotcha This library is a backport of `enum.StrEnum` from Python 3.11. If your project targets Python 3.11 or newer, you should use `from enum import StrEnum` directly from the standard library. Using `backports.strenum` on Python 3.11+ is unnecessary and may lead to import conflicts or deprecated code if not managed properly.
Fix: For projects targeting Python 3.11+, remove `backports-strenum` from your dependencies and update all `from backports.strenum import StrEnum` imports to `from enum import StrEnum`. Consider conditional imports for multi-version support (e.g., `try...except ImportError`).
gotcha `StrEnum` members behave like strings for equality checks (`==`) and can be passed where strings are expected. However, they are still distinct enum objects. Identity checks (`is`) against raw strings will fail (e.g., `MyStatus.ACTIVE is "active"` is `False`). Relying purely on string methods without converting the member to `str()` explicitly might lead to unexpected behavior in edge cases.
Fix: Always use `==` for value comparison. If strictly string-only functionality is required, explicitly convert the `StrEnum` member to a string using `str(MyStatus.MEMBER)` before performing operations that require a raw string.

Install

pip install backports-strenum Install `backports-strenum`

Imports

StrEnum
```
from backports.strenum import StrEnum
```

Quickstart

This example demonstrates how to define a `StrEnum` class and use its members, highlighting their string-like behavior and direct comparison capabilities.

from backports.strenum import StrEnum

class MyStatus(StrEnum):
    ACTIVE = "active"
    INACTIVE = "inactive"
    PENDING = "pending"

# Usage examples
print(MyStatus.ACTIVE) # Output: active
print(MyStatus.ACTIVE == "active") # Output: True
print(isinstance(MyStatus.INACTIVE, str)) # Output: True

def get_status_message(status: MyStatus) -> str:
    if status == MyStatus.ACTIVE:
        return f"Status is: {status}"
    return f"Status is not active: {status}"

print(get_status_message(MyStatus.ACTIVE))
print(get_status_message(MyStatus.PENDING))

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