Strings

Escape Sequences

Special characters in strings

Interview: String handling

Last Updated: June 12, 2026 • 5 min read

Escape sequences let you include special characters in strings using a backslash (\) prefix. Understanding escape sequences is essential for working with file paths, regex patterns, and formatted output.

Common Escape Sequences

\n — newline
\t — tab
\\ — literal backslash
\' / \" — quote characters
\r — carriage return
\0 — null character
\xHH — hex value (e.g., \x41 = 'A')
\uHHHH — Unicode 16-bit (e.g., \u00e9 = 'é')
\UHHHHHHHH — Unicode 32-bit

Avoiding Escape Issues

Use raw strings (r"...") to treat backslashes literally
Use forward slashes in file paths: "C:/Users/name" works on Windows too
Use pathlib.Path for cross-platform file paths

Use Cases

Formatting console output with newlines and tabs

Including special characters and Unicode in strings

Working with regex patterns that contain backslashes

Building cross-platform file paths

Common Mistakes

Windows paths with backslashes triggering unintended escape sequences

Forgetting to use raw strings for regex patterns

Confusing \n (newline) with \r (carriage return) behavior across OS

Not knowing about Unicode escape syntax for international characters