When I write print('\')
or print("\")
or print("'\'")
, Python doesn't print the backslash \
symbol. Instead it errors for the first two and prints ''
for the third. What should I do to print a backslash?
This question is about producing a string that has a single backslash in it. This is particularly tricky because it cannot be done with raw strings. For the related question about why such a string is represented with two backslashes, see Why do backslashes appear twice?. For including literal backslashes in other strings, see using backslash in python (not to escape).
You need to escape your backslash by preceding it with, yes, another backslash:
print("\\")
The \
character is called an escape character, which interprets the character following it differently. For example, n
by itself is simply a letter, but when you precede it with a backslash, it becomes \n
, which is the newline character.
As you can probably guess, \
also needs to be escaped so it doesn't function like an escape character. You have to... escape the escape, essentially.