Escape Sequences in Java

Lecture 11:- Escape Sequences in Java

In Java, escape sequences are special characters that are used to represent non-printable and special characters within a string. When you want to include characters that cannot be easily typed or have special meanings, you use escape sequences to represent them.

Escape sequences start with a backslash \ followed by a specific character. Here are some commonly used escape sequences in Java:

1. \n: Newline - Inserts a new line at the specified position.
2. \t: Tab - Inserts a horizontal tab at the specified position.
3. \\: Backslash - Inserts a backslash character.
4. \": Double Quote - Inserts a double quote within a string.
5. \': Single Quote - Inserts a single quote within a character literal.
6. \r: Carriage Return - Moves the cursor to the beginning of the line.
7. \b: Backspace - Moves the cursor back one character (not commonly used in modern applications).
8. \f: Form Feed - Advances the cursor to the next page or form.
9. \uXXXX: Unicode Escape - Represents a Unicode character specified by the four hexadecimal digits (XXXX).

Here are some examples of using escape sequences in Java:

javaCopy code
public class EscapeSequenceExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Newline
        System.out.println("Hello,\nWorld!");

        // Tab
        System.out.println("Name\tAge");

        // Backslash
        System.out.println("C:\\Users\\username\\Desktop");

        // Double Quote
        System.out.println("He said, \"Hello!\"");

        // Single Quote
        char letter = '\'';
        System.out.println("This is a " + letter);

        // Carriage Return
        System.out.println("Hello\rWorld");

        // Form Feed
        System.out.println("Page 1\fPage 2");

        // Unicode Escape
        System.out.println("\u00A9 All rights reserved.");
    }
}

Output:

vbnetCopy code
Hello,
World!
Name    Age
C:\Users\username\Desktop
He said, "Hello!"
This is a '
Hello
World
Page 1
      Page 2
© All rights reserved.

Escape sequences help in representing special characters and formatting text in various Java applications, especially when working with strings and character literals.

Disclaimer:-

Under Section 107 of the copyright act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational, or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.