from StringIO import StringIO
from xml.etree.cElementTree import Element, ElementTree
try:
    from django.utils.encoding import smart_unicode as unicode
except:
    pass

def serialize(data):
    content_elem = Element('content')
    _serialize(content_elem, data)
    tree = ElementTree(content_elem)
    f = StringIO()
    tree.write(f, 'UTF-8')
    return f.getvalue()

def _serialize(parent_elem, data):
    if isinstance(data, (list, tuple)):
        _serialize_list(parent_elem, data)
    elif isinstance(data, dict):
        _serialize_dict(parent_elem, data)
    else:
        parent_elem.text = unicode(data)

def _serialize_list(parent_elem, data_list):
    for i in data_list:
        item_elem = Element('item')
        parent_elem.append(item_elem)
        _serialize(item_elem, i)

def _serialize_dict(parent_elem, data_dict):
    for k, v in data_dict.iteritems():
        key_elem = Element(k)
        parent_elem.append(key_elem)
        _serialize(key_elem, v)
    
print serialize({'title': 'Hello!', 'data': [1, 2, 3]})