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gh-80143: Clarify use of backslash in string literals #92398

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gh-80143: Clarify use of backslash in string literals #92398

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gh-80143: Clarify use of backslash in string literals
nw0 May 6, 2022
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nw0 May 6, 2022
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9 changes: 6 additions & 3 deletions Doc/reference/lexical_analysis.rst
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Expand Up @@ -469,9 +469,10 @@ see section :ref:`encodings`.
In plain English: Both types of literals can be enclosed in matching single quotes
(``'``) or double quotes (``"``). They can also be enclosed in matching groups
of three single or double quotes (these are generally referred to as
*triple-quoted strings*). The backslash (``\``) character is used to escape
characters that otherwise have a special meaning, such as newline, backslash
itself, or the quote character.
*triple-quoted strings*). The backslash (``\``) character is used in
:ref:`escape sequences <escape-sequences>` to denote characters that may not
otherwise appear in the literal, such as quotes, the backslash itself, or newline
characters.

.. index::
single: b'; bytes literal
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -515,6 +516,8 @@ In triple-quoted literals, unescaped newlines and quotes are allowed (and are
retained), except that three unescaped quotes in a row terminate the literal. (A
"quote" is the character used to open the literal, i.e. either ``'`` or ``"``.)

.. _escape-sequences:

.. index:: physical line, escape sequence, Standard C, C
single: \ (backslash); escape sequence
single: \\; escape sequence
Expand Down