[Chapter 13] 13.2 Character Escape Sequences

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| Chapter 13 Java Syntax |

## 13.2 Character Escape Sequences

Java uses the escape sequences listed in Table 13.2 to represent certain special character values. These escape sequences may appear in any Java `char` or `String` literal.

Table 13.2: Java Escape Characters
Escape Sequence | Character Value
--- | ---
\b | Backspace
\t | Horizontal tab
\n | Newline
\f | Form feed
\r | Carriage return
\" | Double quote
\' | Single quote
\\ | Backslash
\`xxx` | The character corresponding to the octal value `xxx`, where `xxx` is between 000 and 0377.
\u`xxxx` | The Unicode character with encoding `xxxx`, where `xxxx` is one to four hexidecimal digits. Unicode escapes are distinct from the other escape types listed here; they are described below in more detail.

Java characters, strings, and identifiers (e.g., field, method, and class names) are composed of 16-bit Unicode characters. The Unicode `\u` escape sequence may be used anywhere in a Java program (not only in `char` and `String` literals) to represent a Unicode character.

Unicode `\u` escape sequences are processed before the other escape sequences described in Character Escape Sequences, and thus the two types of escape sequences can have very different semantics. A Unicode escape is simply an alternative way to represent a character which may not be displayable on non-Unicode systems. The character escapes, however, can represent special characters in a way that prevents the usual interpretation of those characters by the compiler.

Primitive Data Types |  | Operators