What Is an Escape Sequence?

Escape sequences in computer programming are special sets of characters that can be embedded within the text of a program to let the computer know that these characters should be interpreted differently than normal.

The New Line Escape Sequence

• A common escape sequence in computer programming is "\n." When placed within a string of English text in a computer program, the characters "\n" inform the computer that it should insert a new line.

Example

• For example, consider the following Ruby code:

  s = "This is text \n on two lines."

  puts s

Output

• The output for this code will be the following:

  This is text

  on two lines.

  As you can see, the "\n" is removed and the remaining text begins on a new line.