Is it superfluous to declare # -*- coding: utf-8 -*- after #!/usr/bin/python3?

Question

I have been writing:

#!/usr/bin/python3
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

But I believe Python3 uses Unicode by default.

Answer 1

The default encoding for python3 code is utf-8. See python's unicode support.

If you want to support python2.x in the same file or if you want to use a coding other than utf-8, you need that comment, otherwise you can leave it off without any repercussions.