def _decode_list(data):
    rv = []
    for item in data:
        if isinstance(item, unicode):
            item = item.encode('utf-8')
        elif isinstance(item, list):
            item = _decode_list(item)
        elif isinstance(item, dict):
            item = _decode_dict(item)
        rv.append(item)
    return rv

def _decode_dict(data):
    rv = {}
    for key, value in data.iteritems():
        if isinstance(key, unicode):
            key = key.encode('utf-8')
        if isinstance(value, unicode):
            value = value.encode('utf-8')
        elif isinstance(value, list):
            value = _decode_list(value)
        elif isinstance(value, dict):
            value = _decode_dict(value)
        rv[key] = value
    return rv

def _decode_object(data):
    rv = []
    if isinstance(data, list):
        return _decode_list(data)
    if isinstance(data, dict):
        return _decode_dict(data)
    return data

def byteify(data):
    if isinstance(data, dict):
        return dict([(byteify(k), byteify(v)) for k, v in data.iteritems()])
    elif isinstance(data, list):
        return [byteify(v) for v in data]
    elif isinstance(data, unicode):
        return data.encode('utf-8')
    else:
        return data