Escape Sequences

Escape sequences are special character combinations in C that represent characters difficult to type or display directly, like newlines or tabs. They start with a backslash (\) followed by a character.

Common Escape Sequences

Escape Sequence	Description	Example Output
\n	Newline (line break)	Moves cursor to next line
\t	Tab (horizontal)	Adds a tab space
\"	Double quote	Prints "
\'	Single quote	Prints '
\\	Backslash	Prints \
\0	Null character	Marks end of string

How They Work

• Used inside strings (in double quotes " ") or as character constants (in single quotes ' ').
• Tell the compiler to insert special characters or control actions.

Example Code

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    printf("Hello\nWorld!\n");        // Prints "Hello" and "World!" on new lines
    printf("Name:\tJohn\n");         // Adds a tab before "John"
    printf("She said \"Hi!\"\n");    // Prints "Hi!" with quotes
    printf("Path: C:\\folder\n");    // Prints a backslash
    return 0;
}

Output of Example Code

Hello
World!
Name:   John
She said "Hi!"
Path: C:\folder