How to include escape char in Python string

Question

I'm trying to build a string dynamically with the following code

output = "".join(["network", "\", "account"])

The escaped result should be something like network\account

How can do this in Python3 without running into this errors

File "<stdin>", line 1
"".join(["network", "\", "account"])
                                ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

If this is about file system paths, you might consider using os.path.join or similiar tools from the os library - this will help you keep things tidy in case of operating system switches. — bukwyrm
– bukwyrm, Commented Oct 2, 2019 at 7:41

wobbily_col · Accepted Answer · 2019-10-02 08:05:04Z

3

Raw strings is another way (someone already posted an answer using an escape character).

Precede the quotes with an r:

r'network\account

Edit:

I realise that this doesn't actually work with your example using a single backslash,

I had posted:

output = "".join(["network", r"\", "account"])

but according to Python docs.

Even in a raw literal, quotes can be escaped with a backslash, but the backslash remains in the result; for example, r"\"" is a valid string literal consisting of two characters: a backslash and a double quote; r"\" is not a valid string literal (even a raw string cannot end in an odd number of backslashes). Specifically, a raw literal cannot end in a single backslash (since the backslash would escape the following quote character).

https://docs.python.org/3/reference/lexical_analysis.html?highlight=raw%20strings

edited Oct 2, 2019 at 8:05

answered Oct 2, 2019 at 7:39

wobbily_col

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2 Comments

Cheruiyot Felix Over a year ago

Worked in raw r'network\account but failed when used in join. Going with @sami-rouhe answer instead for this implementation

wobbily_col Over a year ago

Yes, I realised that, and posed a link to the python docs explaining why. I learned something myself today. Raw strings can still be handy if its not just a single backslash.

rouhija · Accepted Answer · 2019-10-02 07:36:24Z

2

Escape the backslash:

output = "".join(["network", "\\", "account"])

answered Oct 2, 2019 at 7:36

rouhija

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Comments

Mohsin Rafi · Accepted Answer · 2019-10-02 07:56:57Z

0

In Python strings, the backslash "\" is a special character, also called the "escape" character, so use '\\' for "escape" character

output = "".join(["network", "\\", "account"])

answered Oct 2, 2019 at 7:56

Mohsin Rafi

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