title: Python: check if string contains specific characters
body: <p>I am storing the result of a string in a variable and would like to know how to check if the string contains specific characters. I understand that the 'in' command can be used to check if a character/s is contained in a string "some string". My issue is I can't do this when the character/s are being evaluated against a variable. </p>
  
  <p>Example:</p>
  
  <pre><code>s = ser.read(1000) 
  if "developer" in s:
    print("True")
  else:
    print("False")
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I'm getting an error </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>a bytes-like object is required, not 'str'</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Could someone help with this?</p>
  
  <p>Thanks.</p>