that contains symbolic links. On Windows, it converts forward slashes to
backward slashes. To normalize case, use :func:`normcase`.
+ .. note::
+ On POSIX systems, in accordance with `IEEE Std 1003.1 2013 Edition; 4.13
+ Pathname Resolution <http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/V1_chap04.html#tag_04_13>`_,
+ if a pathname begins with exactly two slashes, the first component
+ following the leading characters may be interpreted in an implementation-defined
+ manner, although more than two leading characters shall be treated as a
+ single character.
+
.. versionchanged:: 3.6
Accepts a :term:`path-like object`.
initial_slashes = path.startswith(sep)
# POSIX allows one or two initial slashes, but treats three or more
# as single slash.
+ # (see http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/V1_chap04.html#tag_04_13)
if (initial_slashes and
path.startswith(sep*2) and not path.startswith(sep*3)):
initial_slashes = 2