In JavaScript you can add special characters to a text string by using the backslash sign.
The backslash (\) is used to insert apostrophes, new lines, quotes, and other special characters into a text string.
Look at the following JavaScript code:
var txt="We are the so-called "Vikings" from the north.";
document.write(txt);
In JavaScript, a string is started and stopped with either single or double quotes. This means that the string above will be chopped to: We are the so-called
To solve this problem, you must place a backslash (\) before each double quote in "Viking". This turns each double quote into a string literal:
var txt="We are the so-called \"Vikings\" from the north.";
document.write(txt);
JavaScript will now output the proper text string:
Here is another example:
document.write ("You \& I are singing!");
The example above will produce the following output:
The table below lists other special characters that can be added to a text string with the backslash sign:
| Code | Output |
| \' | single quote |
| \" | double quote |
| \& | ampersand |
| \\ | backslash |
| \n | new line |
| \r | carriage return |
| \t | tab |
| \b | backspace |
| \f | form feed |
