<SYSTEM_TASK:>
Solve the following problem using Python, implementing the functions described below, one line at a time
<END_TASK>
<USER_TASK:>
Description:
 def get_string(input_text, encoding='utf-8'):
 """Get byte string representation of an object. :param input_text: The input text. :type input_text: unicode, str, float, int :param encoding: The encoding used to do the conversion, default to utf-8. :type encoding: str :returns: Byte string representation of the input. :rtype: bytes """

    if isinstance(input_text, str):
        return input_text.encode(encoding)
    return input_text