Python Forum

Hello,

I'm new in programming and python.
So I have a question for escape sequences.

If you want to print a backslash, you have to use an escape sequence, right?

print('\\')

Output:
\

But you don't have to use an escape sequence here:

print('Tom\s car')

Output:
Tom\s car

Why?

Thank you for your help :)

Because Python realizes that \s isn't a recognized escape sequence, so it leaves it as is. Using two backslashes clarifies what to do in the case of a recognized escape sequence:

>>> print('tom\s car')
tom\s car
>>> print('tom\n car')
tom
 car
>>> print('tom\\n car')
tom\n car

In the case of \s, the unneeded clarity of \\s doesn't hurt.